The Land that Time Forgot
by Mr Twyst
Summary: Dr Who/King Kong crossover. The TARDIS drops the Fifth Doctor and Peri on the Venture shortly before it arrives at Skull Island - or, as the Doctor knows it, the centre of a web of dimensional instability. But something infinitely old and evil waits.
1. The Venture

_(MESSAGE FROM MR TWYST) _– This began as an attempt to take King Kong in a completely new direction. I had trouble trying to work it out, but I decided to combine it with my desire to write a Dr Who story – hey presto, 25-foot gorilla and blue box. I think it works. There is a focus on the King Kong side of the story (particularly in this chapter), but later it leans on the Doctor Who format, which is why it's in this section. Note that there will be scientific claptrap later. That's enough of me – on with the story… (_END MESSAGE)_

_It fell from the Void, wreathed in the flames of Time. It split the sky as it fell, ripping the Earth as it smashed into the fragile crust of the planet. The impact sent hundreds of tonnes of rock and dust into the upper atmosphere, blocking out the life-giving rays of the sun over thousands of miles. It would have caused much more destruction, wiping out life just as it was rising by destroying the entire world, but some force acted as it entered the atmosphere, slowing its descent enough to preserve the planet below. _

_This force was not of Earthly making._

_Millions of years passed. Land bridges came and went. Life evolved, spread, multiplied. It lay dormant for aeons, waiting for the time to be right, for the time of the Return. The time when the Web would be ripped asunder, and all things would face the end. For all things are destined to end. Together. And very soon. _

_It is Time._

CHAPTER ONE

The ship rocked gently as the waves lapped against its rusty sides, but everyone aboard was used to the swaying by now - they had been journeying for a little over two months, so no one had any excuse. The ship was an old tramp steamer which had, to be honest, seen better days. But she didn't leak, much, and her engine worked fine. For the captain, and most of the crew, it was the only home they'd known. The _SS Venture_.

Although, at the moment it did feel to the Captain that his home had been appropriated by squatters whilst he was there. The 'squatters' in question were an American film-maker and his crew, bound for the mystic east. Singapore, to be precise. Alright, not all the passengers were that bad, but it only takes one to give the whole lot a bad name.

The captain stood on the deck outside the wheelhouse, and lit a cigarette. Idly, he watched his passengers on the fore-deck, filming a scene for their movie. Carl Denham - the unpleasant one - was strutting across the deck directing a classically handsome actor in his movements for the scene. Bruce Baxter nodded quietly as he received instructions, completely ignoring the older woman who was adjusting his make-up. The captain knew from conversations with her that she found Baxter thoroughly vile. Privately, he agreed. Baxter was arrogant, vain and chauvinistic. Nothing like the characters he'd played before his career took a dip. The other people with them were more likeable - Herb, the cameraman, Mike, the sound technician and James Leonard. Leonard was a small-time theatre actor who'd agreed to be here to support his wife and kids. There were a few others on Denham's payroll, but they were below decks.

The captain turned away and re-entered the wheelhouse, pausing to flick his cigarette into the sea. It was late summer, and outside it was very hot. The captain found just a few minutes outside uncomfortable, and he didn't like to think how his crew felt on days like this. On the other hand, Denham must be feeling quite tortured.

There was another thing about Denham that was in the captain's mind - some of the sailors were spreading rumours that Denham was searching for some mythical place. Not that he was as superstitious as some of his sailors. Most men seemed reasonable enough not to fear such superstition, but when you were on a ship with one person who believed a legend, it wasn't long before the legend became more real in people's minds. It wasn't that the captain believed the rumours about 'Skull Island', but they were demoralising his crew. And a demoralised crew could mean a threat of mutiny. It annoyed the captain how rumours could have such a great effect on people. How could this island be real? This was the twentieth century, for god's sake! The so-called 'Age of Reason'! Even if the title was debatable, every inch of the world had been explored, with the possible exceptions of the heart of the Congo or the Amazon.

The captain turned to the large black man at the wheel, his chief Mate.

'Mr Hayes,' the captain said in his clipped German accent, 'do you know where Jimmy is at the moment?'

'No sir,' Hayes responded, glancing at the captain, 'but he's off duty right now, so I'm not sure where he is.'

The captain left Hayes at the wheel, and headed out into the heat. Jimmy was the youngest sailor on the ship, about seventeen or eighteen. He'd been a stowaway, four years before, when Hayes had found him in one of the animal cages in the hold. The boy didn't like to talk about his past, or why he'd been in the hold. Maybe he couldn't remember, but, from the broken arm Jimmy had when he was found, and from some of the scars Hayes had mentioned, the captain suspected abuse. Or maybe his parents had crossed someone, maybe a high-profile criminal. In any case, Hayes had taken a shine to the boy, and persuaded the captain to let Jimmy stay on as a crewmember. The captain had been sceptical, but now thought differently.

A bare-chested young man moved past the captain, an armful of fishing nets obstructing his vision. The captain put out a hand to stop him.

'Sam,' he said, causing the young man to lean to the side of the nets, revealing sharp features, dark hair and darker eyes.

'Yes captain,' he answered, smiling warmly. The thing about Sam Griffin was that he was perpetually cheerful and optimistic. It did get annoying when everyone else was stressed, but he was usually right. Also, he was quite friendly with Jimmy, as they were close in age, and usually knew where the younger man was.

'I think Mr. Driscoll was helping him with something in the hold,' Griffin replied when asked. The captain nodded in reply, and moved away. Griffin hitched up the fishnets, and continued towards the middle deck.

The captain found his way down to the hold. Jack Driscoll was part of Denham's little crew, a writer. It gave another reason to dislike Denham. Driscoll's name hadn't been on the list of passengers Denham had given the captain, and it seemed Denham had tricked Driscoll into staying on the ship against his will. The captain had never seen one of Driscoll's stage plays, but he'd heard they were good.

When he got to the hold, the largest room on the ship, it was to find it filled with cages of all sizes and the constant scent of animals. Over the years this hold had transported all sorts of animals across the world - from camels to crocodiles, otters to oxen. But on this voyage, it carried animals of a different kind. When Denham had tricked Jack Driscoll into remaining aboard, the captain had been unable to provide him with a cabin, so Driscoll had been forced to bunk down in one of the larger cages. There was a barrel positioned next to the cage, where Jimmy was sitting, staring intently at the open book on his lap and resting his feet on a small cage.

The young sailor glanced up as he heard someone enter the hold, and sat up straighter when he saw it was the captain.

'Jimmy,' the Captain said, 'I need a word.'

'Yes, sir,' Jimmy said, 'Jack's just gone to the bathroom.'

'What's he doing with you?'

'Helping with some of my reading problems.'

The captain smiled, 'Mr Hayes would like that.' The captain knew that Hayes wanted Jimmy to get an education, so he wouldn't be stuck on the ship his whole life. Jimmy, however, preferred to stay on the ship. With Hayes. 'Jimmy, I need you to do something for me. I need you to clean Denham's cabin.'

Jimmy winced. Like the captain, he didn't like Denham, and Denham didn't like him. He didn't like the idea of what would happen if Denham found him in there. Wild accusations would soon follow, then threats and likely violence.

'And while you're in there,' the captain continued, 'look for anything that mentions Skull Island.'

'Are you sure about this, captain?' Jimmy asked. 'You know what'll happen if he finds out.'

'I need to know if what you overheard is true,' the captain snapped, 'He wouldn't plan to film there if he didn't know that it-'

The captain stopped, staring. Jimmy's hair was waving in the wind. But they were inside, _how could there be a wind?_ Then the noise started. The captain spun round as he heard a deep groaning sound, like the grind of the _Venture's_ engines, only much deeper, infinitely more ancient. A light began to pulse, two metres off the floor, in the centre of the vortex of wind. The captain's cap flew off, heading towards the light.

'Oh my god,' Jack Driscoll stepped off the ladder to the upper decks, staring as the air around the light began to fizzle, as if the air itself was being pushed apart, making room for something. Then it happened.

A blue something began to fade into existence below the lamp, solidifying with each pulse of the light, until it became solid. And then everything was still.

(_MESSAGE FROM MR TWYST_) There you have it – chapter numero uno. I'll try to update often, but things have a knack of 'coming up'. Note that this is my first story, so any comments are welcome! Thanks to Lorze the Brooks for beta services. (_END MESSAGE_)


	2. Strangers

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE) _My, my. Two reviews, both positive. In the words of 'LOLcat', this pleases me. Something that pleased me even more was finally finding time to write this. When a vampyr orders you to annotate 25 pages of text by Monday, the annotations tend to take priority over a lot of things. So, here's chapter two, in what could be a very long story. For the record, this adventure features the Doctor's Fifth incarnation (as seen in the last Children In Need special, _Time Crash_) and his friend, Peri. From Baltimore. (_END NOTE_)

CHAPTER TWO

It stood there in the centre of the hold, blocking the aisle between the cages. A two-metre tall blue box, topped by a lamp. The box's side panels were recessed, almost like doors, and there was frosted glass at head height. Across the top of the box was a long panel, with writing on it.

'Police public call box,' Jimmy whispered, reading the writing.

'What the fu-' the captain began, but he stopped as he heard a click from the other side of the box.

'Oh,' said a voice. American, female, and quite young from the sound of it, 'You take me to such wonderful places, Doctor.'

'Wasn't Peladon a nice planet?' said another voice, male this time, older, and British.

'It sure was,' the American voice said, 'Unless you counted the murderous Arcturan, Zixlyr and that homicidal Egyptian goddess.'

'Alright,' the older man sighed, 'you've made your point. Now, let's see where we are, shall we?'

'It's large and distinctly smelly,' said the younger woman, 'What's to see?'

'It can tell us a whole lot about the sorts of people who live here, and it'll give the TARDIS a chance to cool down.'

'Is there something wrong with the TARDIS _again_?'

'Possibly. She really didn't like it when I tried those coordinates-oh.'

'What is it?'

The captain heard the sound of a shoe being scraped against some cage bars. He shook his head, trying to clear it, although he was convinced he was dreaming. He'd just seen a blue box appear out of thin air. This had to be a dream. Or a delusion from eating a dodgy walnut. He pinched himself, then did it again. The box still seemed to be there. He cleared his throat loudly.

'Doctor…'

'I heard it too, Peri. Hello? Is anyone there?'

'Would you mind explaining what the hell just happened?' the captain demanded, starting to wish that this was a delusion.

'Yes… well, I'll do my best, if I can get to you. Hang on a minute…' There were a few clunks and clinks from the other side of the blue box, and a few cages to the side fell over, creating a small alcove against the wall of the hold behind the blue box - 'tardis', the woman had called it. A face appeared at in the gap between the box and the cages - a youngish face, with smooth features and floppy blond hair with a long fringe.

'Could you help me move this, please?' he asked, worming a hand round to grab and pull on the corner closer to the captain. The captain glanced at Jimmy. The boy caught the glance and nervously moved towards the box. He gingerly took the corner opposite to the one the Doctor had hold of, and pulled.

'Come on, Peri, give us a hand,' the Doctor said, on the other side of the box.

Slowly, the box began to rotate, and when it had finished turning ninety degrees, the Doctor got Jimmy to help push it back into the newly-formed alcove. The captain could now see them clearly - a man who looked to be in his early thirties, and a much younger woman, perhaps a few years older than Jimmy.

'Thank you very much,' the man said, smiling, shaking Jimmy's hand, 'I'm the Doctor, this is my friend, Peri and who are you?'

'My name's Jimmy,' the boy replied, casting side glances at the blue box.

'It's lovely to meet you,' Peri said, also smiling.

'Excuse me,' the captain cut in, 'but I think a couple of people in this room need to explain themselves.' He stood still, glaring at the Doctor with a look that could curdle milk while it was still in the cow.

'That gets my vote too,' Jack Driscoll chimed in.

'Ah,' the Doctor sighed, 'I'm not sure you'd believe it…'

'You're not giving us a chance,' Jimmy pointed out.

'The kid has a point,' Peri whispered in the Doctor's ear. Jimmy bridled at being referred to as 'the kid'.

The Doctor sighed again, 'Alright,' he said, 'This box, the TARDIS, is a machine that sort of hops from place to place. We were tracking a dimensional anomaly when the controls went haywire due to some kind of temporal phenomena, and the next thing we know the old girl's dropped us here. Does that cover everything?'

'Run that past me again,' Jack said, 'Only in English.'

'It was in English,' the Doctor replied, eyeing Jack with interest.

The captain was about to loose a sarcastic retort on the Doctor, but found himself not doing so. There was something about this doctor, something that lurked below the youthful exterior. Something powerful, commanding.

'You say you're a doctor?' the captain said, changing track.

'This has what to do with a blue box appearing out of thin air?' Jack demanded.

'Yes,' the Doctor said. 'Of practically everything,' he added, anticipating the captain's next question - 'of what'.

'How about legends?'

'Well,' the Doctor paused, considering, 'I suppose I do have some experience in the area…'

'Don't I just know it,' Peri muttered.

'…Do you have one in mind?' the Doctor finished.

'Skull Island.'

'Hmm,' the Doctor frowned, thinking, 'It rings a bell, but I can't recall exactly where, although I might be more help if you explain exactly what's going on. People usually don't ask about legends without good reason, and you look like someone with good reason.'

The captain swallowed. The Doctor was dead right. He stood there, eyeing the captain carefully. There it was again. Something odd about the man, a slight edge of power in his eyes.

'Jimmy, if anyone asks, the Doctor and his companion came aboard at Merak, and you've been helping them secure their equipment.'

'Sir,' Jimmy said, glancing at the Doctor and Peri.

'Do I take it that you want us to stay?' the Doctor asked, stating the obvious.

The captain glanced back as he turned to leave, 'You think?' he said. 'I'll want a word with you later, Doctor. Consider yourselves passengers for now.' He turned, and climbed the ladder, leaving the Doctor, Peri, Jack and Jimmy standing in the hold.

'Erm,' Jack said, 'Would you mind explaining how-'

'Sorry,' the Doctor said, 'But to explain how would require a two-hour lecture with flipcharts and slides. I'm not sure anyone has the time right now,' he glanced at Jimmy, smiling, 'Do we now?'

The Captain entered the wheelhouse, turning over and over what had just happened in his mind. If this Doctor had some advanced science at his disposal, than it might be advantageous to keep him around, to help with the Denham problem.

'Captain?'

But then again, could the Doctor be trusted?

'Captain Englehorn?'

The captain glanced up at his first mate, and sighed. Suddenly he looked a lot older. 'Yes, Mr Hayes?'

'You okay sir?'

'Yeah. Just checking on the new passengers.'

'Passengers?' Hayes' eyes narrowed. 'What passengers?'

'A scientist and his young companion came aboard this morning, bound for Egypt. Jimmy's been helping secure their equipment in the hold.'

'Why didn't you tell me?' Hayes demanded. As first mate, he knew practically everything that was going on aboard, and hated being kept out of the loop.

The captain shrugged, sighing. Hayes could tell he was stressed. The first mate knew that Denham had demanded that they turn south-west rather than head on to Singapore, and that Englehorn was worried about it, and Skull Island.

'Ben,' the Captain began, 'The Doctor might know something about Skull Island.'

'So you took him on, despite us having no more room aboard?' Hayes said.

'Please, Ben,' the Captain said, 'Trust me on this.'

Hayes sighed, 'Alright, but I don't think Denham will be too pleased. And please tell me earlier the next time this happens.'

'Thank you, Ben,' the Captain smiled one of his rare smiles, 'Thank you very much.'

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) So that was capitúlo numero duo. I hope you liked it. Thanks for your time, and I'll work on the next one once I extricate myself from a Chemistry textbook. Cheerio! (_END NOTE_)


	3. Many Meetings

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE) _Having finally pulled my nose out of a chemistry textbook, I've done chapter 3 to wind down. Also, I made a grammatical error on my note at the end of chapter 2! It should be _capitulo numero dos_, not duo. Duo is Latin, not Spanish. (Ta, Kaylee Tam.) So, here's chapter three. Enjoy. (_END NOTE_)

CHAPTER THREE

The news of two new passengers spread around the ship like wildfire, as talk does in closed environments populated by a relatively small number of people. So, when the Doctor and Peri arrived for dinner, they attracted a number of looks from assorted sailors and other passengers. The Doctor, in his typical way, got chatting to a few sailors, gently and very subtly probing them to get information about precisely what was going on. Peri sighed, and settled on a table close to Jimmy. He glanced up as she sat down.

'Hi,' he said carefully, then glanced down at the book in his lap. Peri returned the greeting, and appraised the sauce-soaked object served by the thoroughly unpleasant looking chef. _Potato aux Walnut_, he'd said it was. Peri thought it looked more like Oozefish, and decided to eat as much as she could, then get something from the TARDIS' food synthesiser later. Even bland white bars looked more appetising than this pile of… whatever it was.

'You okay?'

Peri glanced up to see Jimmy looking at her, his head cocked to one side. The kid had a slight smile stretching his lips. It wasn't a malicious smile, more an innocent smile, the sort her little brother had used whenever he was trying to be friendly.

'Yeah, I'm fine thanks,' Peri replied, smiling back. Her discomfort must have shown, because Jimmy glanced at her food and said, 'It's not that bad. It's just that Lumpy likes his walnuts.' Peri glanced at the chef, who was serving another portion of slop to the Doctor, looking pleasantly surprised that someone was asking for seconds.

'Well hello there, little lady.'

Peri looked up to see a well-built, classically handsome man striding across the mess towards her, beaming obsequiously. Jimmy muttered something, and slid out of his seat, vanishing through a nearby door. Peri noticed some of the sailors sending pitying glances her way as the man settled in the spot Jimmy had just vacated.

'I don't believe we've met,' he said, retaining the smile, although it made him look like a St Bernard dog. Peri decided she didn't like him, and it was clear from the way other people acted, as if there was a bad smell around, that they didn't like him either.

'I'm Bruce,' the man said, stretching out a hand. Peri didn't take it. Bruce's smile faltered slightly, as if he'd expected Peri to say something. He quickly changed track, 'I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name, miss…'

'That's because I didn't throw it,' Peri replied, spooning a lump of _Potato aux Walnut_ onto her spoon and trying to work out the best way to spill it onto Bruce's pristine trousers.

'I'm sorry,' Bruce said again, 'Where are my manners?'

'That's a very good question,' Peri muttered.

Bruce continued, unperturbed. 'What is your name?'

'Brown. Miss Brown to you.' Bruce leaned forwards, interested.

'Excuse me,' said another voice, causing both Peri and Bruce to glance up. A small blonde woman was standing by the table, with her own bowl of slop. She addressed Bruce when she spoke. 'Mr Baxter, Mr Denham asked me to get you. He wanted to talk about the scene we're filming this afternoon - the argument with Mr Leonard.'

'Ah,' Bruce said, a little disappointed, 'Sorry, Miss Brown, duty calls. Later, perhaps?'

'Much later,' Peri said, 'Try nineteen-eighty four.' Bruce seemed to miss what she was saying as he left the room, looking rather smug. Peri turned to the blonde woman.

'I guess I should say thanks.'

'It was nothing,' the blonde replied, 'He's just very full of himself.'

'I didn't notice,' Peri said, raising her eyebrows. The other woman chuckled, and sat down opposite.

'I'm Ann,' she said, smiling, 'Ann Darrow.'

'Peri, Peri Brown. Short for Perpuguilliam.'

Ann smiled, 'Nice name,' she said.

'Yeah, but it sure is a mouthful.' Ann smiled again.

'So,' she said, a friendly tone in her voice, 'What brings you to this neck of the woods?'

Peri recalled a cover story agreed with the Doctor and the captain, 'The Doctor is a friend of my father, and he's taking me to see the world. Travel broadens the mind and all that.'

'Doctor?' Ann said, frowning slightly, 'As in medical?'

'Everything, really.' Peri pointed to the Doctor, who was amazing the sailors by pulling a frying pan from behind the chef's ear.

'He seems to make friends easily,' Ann remarked.

'He does that,' Peri replied, watching as the Doctor produced a bunch of flowers from a colander.

'By the way,' Ann said, leaning close to Peri, 'A word of warning, be careful of Carl Denham. He won't like a scientist.'

'Why's that?' Peri asked, feeling the familiar inevitability of some catastrophe looming on the horizon.

'He mentioned something about a discovery. Some sort of island,' Ann said, looking at Peri, concern in her eyes. 'He's very protective, almost paranoid. When one of his boxes vanished, he freaked, and almost strangled Jimmy. Then he found it in his pocket.'

'Why Jimmy?' Peri asked, remembering how shy the young man appeared.

'He steals things.' Ann said.

Peri was about to ask about Denham, when a black man stuck his head around the door of the mess. 'Doctor,' he said 'Captain wants to see you in the wheelhouse.'

'Ah,' the Doctor sighed, 'and we were getting on so well.' He stood up. 'Maybe later, gentlemen.'

Captain Englehorn examined the Doctor as he sat on the other side of the desk. He was short, with a long blonde fringe flopping over youthful features. His clothes were strange as well – a cricket costume, embroidered with question marks, and a stick of celery pinned to his lapel. Englehorn was pleasantly surprised to see the Doctor placing a cheque on the table, made out for six thousand US dollars. The Doctor caught the captain's glance, and smiled, 'If we're passengers, we should pay.'

'Thank you very much, Doctor,' the Captain said.

'Don't mention it,' the Doctor said, settling back in his seat, 'Now, tell me about Skull Island.'

Englehorn sighed, 'It's an old legend of a phantom island, roamed by fantastical creatures, and it can't exist. Is that enough information, or do you want to hear the more outlandish myths? The ghost ruins? The living skeletons?'

'Oh, that'll do fine, Captain,' the Doctor said, looking deep in thought. 'I've found a number of myths that do exist, so it's perfectly possible that Skull Island can exist.'

'Oh God,' Englehorn muttered, 'How sure are you?'

'Sure enough to not be sure. I said it was a _possibility_, not that it did or didn't. Although it's unlikely.' Precisely how he knew, the Doctor wasn't going to say. He'd first met Peri when the TARDIS dropped him off in 1984, and Skull Island hadn't existed then, nor had it ever.

'Denham thinks he has proof,' Englehorn said. 'Can you explain that?'

'Not without seeing it. I've got some… equipment that can find out a lot about things.'

'Doctor,' Englehorn leaned forward in his seat, 'Denham wants me to head south-west. It seems like he has a pretty good idea about where the island is.'

'The Indian Ocean? Hmm.' the Doctor paused, his brow furrowed in thought, 'I'll need to look in some of my books, see what I can find. I think we should be careful in the near future, just in case.' Englehorn looked a bit annoyed at the Doctor telling him what to do, but realised the other man had a point.

'Alright, Doctor. Check your books. I want to know if you find anything.'

'Aye aye,' the Doctor smiled.

'Jimmy has agreed to let Miss Brown use his cabin.'

'But where will he sleep? Peri and I have sleeping gear in the TARDIS.'

'I have no idea of what's in your box, but if you're passengers you'll need cabin space.'

'So we will,' the Doctor acknowledged, 'I noticed you've got someone sleeping in the hold, so I take it I'll have to bunk down with him?'

'Sorry about that,' Englehorn said.

The Doctor entered the hold, humming to himself as he turned over the day's events in his mind. Peri was ensconced in Jimmy's cabin, whilst the boy himself was nowhere to be found, and he had also shed some light on the other people on the ship. Added to what he'd gleaned from the ship's crew, it pretty much completed the picture. Carl Denham was a slightly shady filmmaker who had yet to put in an appearance, and he was on the ship making a romantic picture. Peri had met the leads, Bruce Baxter (or 'Captain Sleaze' as she knew him) and Ann Darrow. Apparently the two were polar opposites. Then there were people they all had yet to meet - Herb, Mike, Fay, a James Leonard, Will, Preston and Jack Driscoll. The Doctor remembered finding the name 'Driscoll' on some preserved folios of early twentieth century plays in the New York National Museum in 2589. It appeared that Denham had neglected to mention the mythical island in the contracts, and it was only due to Jimmy overhearing something that the Captain knew.

The Doctor heard a squelching noise, then realised he'd trodden in something again. Idly, he wiped his shoe on a blue rag on the floor, tutting to himself.

'That's my shirt, you know.' The Doctor glanced towards one of the cages, where Jimmy had propped himself up on his elbows, causing the duvet to slide down his chest.

'Sorry,' the Doctor replied guiltily, picking the shirt off the ground and inspecting the damage. He glanced up. 'Nothing a wash won't fix,' he said with a small smile. Holding the shirt, the Doctor stepped up to the blue box, the TARDIS, and slid a key into the lock.

'How did it do what it did?' Jimmy asked. The Doctor turned back, watching the boy with a keen eye. He sighed.

'It's very complicated,' the Doctor said, 'beyond the science of this world,' he added when he saw Jimmy's expression at being patronised. 'It sort of vanishes and reappears somewhere else, and it's surprisingly roomy inside.'

Jimmy narrowed his eyes – there was something the Doctor had just said…

'You said 'this world',' the boy said. It was a statement, not a question. The Doctor paused, realising he'd said something wrong. Earth wasn't supposed to discover extraterrestrial life for another three decades.

'Where did you get that?' the Doctor asked, changing the subject as his eyes flicked to an ugly scar on Jimmy's shoulder. The boy looked away, immediately uncomfortable. He settled down onto his back, lifting the duvet to cover the scar. The Doctor spoke quietly; 'Don't tell me if you don't want to,' then he turned, rotated the key in the lock, and stepped inside. For a brief moment, a bright white light was visible through the open door, then it clicked shut.

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE)_ Work had started on chapter 4, but it might take longer than expected, as next week is Panto week, and I have to juggle that with more assignments from the Vampyr, her partner in crime and work on chapter 2 of my other story – _Jumper: Continuum_. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, and thanks to anyone who has, or will, leave a review, (hint hint). (_END MESSAGE_)


	4. Side Step

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) G'day, readers. Having a rest day before the first performance of a pantomime can be quite nerve-wracking, so I decided to get this done. Enjoy! (_END NOTE_)

CHAPTER FOUR

The Doctor climbed up the ladders of the ship's decks, towards the wheelhouse, a stack of papers in his arms. He hummed merrily to himself, getting the opening bars of _The New World Symphony_ completely out of tune. He stepped aside as Jimmy moved past, carrying a heavy crate. The boy nodded to the Doctor as he passed, and the Doctor returned the smile, before continuing to the wheelhouse.

The Doctor and Peri had been aboard the ship for almost a week now, and were getting used to nautical life. Although there wasn't much to do, Peri certainly seemed to be enjoying herself. She had struck up friendships with Ann and Jimmy, and was quite friendly with most of the other sailors, even the usually reserved Chief Mate, Mr Hayes, whilst the Doctor himself had spent most of the voyage ferreting around in the more remote corners of the TARDIS library. He really should re-order those shelves some century soon.

It was ridiculous, really. Having found _How to boil an Egg_ in the fiction section rather than cookery, and all six volumes of _Juggling for Alpha-Centurions_ in the Horticulture section, he realised that nothing was in its proper place. He'd spent six hours searching for the Mythology section, then another twelve checking all eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight shelves, only to find his book on _Legendary and Phantom Islands_ by J. Hayes six hours later in the Architecture section, next to _Bleak House_. Then it had been a simple day of compiling all notes about Skull Island in the book with those in the TARDIS' databank and the Matrix. This had amounted to approximately one A5 sheet of notes. Then he'd done some extrapolating of coordinates to locate the precise position of a temporal hump in the near vicinity, as well as a subjective tectonic analysis of this section of the Earth's surface and located his sonic resonance imager in an ice pool halfway up a medium-sized peak in the TARDIS' mountain range, possibly left over from an expedition with his old friend Romana.

The Doctor shifted the pile slightly in his arms as he reached the door to the wheelhouse, and managed to open it after a few minutes of trying. He slid inside, and heard the angry voices coming from the cabin behind the wheelhouse. Ben Hayes glanced over at the Doctor and nodded, but said nothing. The Doctor returned the nod, and leant against the wall. He knew from experience that it was not a good idea to walk in on someone when they were arguing.

'I don't care about any discovery!' Englehorn yelled at his opponent, who could only be Carl Denham, 'My priority is with my ship and my crew.'

'What, a rust bucket and a bunch of guys with barely enough brains to understand menial labour?'

At this, Hayes visibly tensed, anger flashing in his eyes, but he held his tongue. The Doctor could see the Chief Mate's knuckles were white as they gripped the wheel. The Doctor sighed inwardly. Denham had a very low opinion of other people, and had been very blunt when he first met the Doctor. The filmmaker's exact words had been: 'Stay off my back. Anything found in this voyage is mine, and if you try to take anything I'll personally rip your heart out through your spleen!', only with more expletives. Denham's assistant, a nervous young man called Preston, had apologised once his employer was out of earshot, but the Doctor had brushed it off. Even if Denham had removed a heart, the Doctor would still have one left. And in any case, the temporal platelets in his blood would probably heal the wound. Either that or he'd be forced to regenerate. Again.

The raised voices continued for another five minutes, Denham variously insulting the ship, demanding that Englehorn keep heading south-west, and complaining about the presence of another scientist aboard the ship.

'What the _hell_ were you thinking?' Denham demanded.

'The Doctor paid in advance,' the Captain replied, struggling to resist the urge to throw Denham overboard, 'Six thousand US dollars.' Of course, the Doctor had several bank accounts spread across the world, and by the 1930s had amassed a total worth several trillion US dollars, all due to interest on his initial deposits.

'But he's a _scientist_!' Denham wailed, with petulance that defied his age, 'He'll take my discovery for himself!'

'You don't even know if anything's out there!' Englehorn snapped.

'It's real!' Denham bellowed, 'I _know _it is!'

The Doctor decided that it may be time to intervene, and moved around the door frame, to see Denham had one fist raised, as if he was about to hit Englehorn.

'Ah,' the Doctor said as he appeared, 'Am I interrupting anything?'

Denham grunted at the Doctor's presence, glaring at both the Doctor and Englehorn.

'Remember what I said,' Denham snarled to no one in particular, 'Anything happens to my discovery, you're dead.' He left, scowling. Englehorn sighed, and then turned to the Doctor.

'Couldn't you have come in a few minutes earlier?'

'I probably could, but then I would have missed the last few minutes. You can learn a lot about a person from the way they argue.'

'And what can you tell about me?' the Captain asked, interested.

The Doctor pursed his lips, thinking, 'You seem to have a strong sense of loyalty to your crew, and another of your priorities.'

Englehorn paused for a moment, considering what the Doctor had said.

'What're those?' he asked abruptly, nodding at the papers in the Doctor's arms.

'Oh, these,' the Doctor shifted the stack of papers onto the Captain's desk, 'I've been following up the Skull Island questions, and I've found several references to it. Apparently there's a small island just north of Australia called Skull Island, but I'm afraid it has no mythological connotations whatsoever.' Whilst the Doctor spoke, Englehorn picked up the A5 sheet which had the notes on skull island myths written on it, and examined them.

The Doctor started to talk about the other papers being bearings and extrapolations of data, but Englehorn wasn't really listening. He was occupied by the information on the paper. One word seemed to quite appropriate, and that word was 'Shit'. If this impossible island did exist, then Englehorn seriously hoped that nothing else that was said about it was true. Walking skeletons, monsters from the depths of hell, a gigantic ancient wall, demons with glowing eyes, black magic upon the highest peak, a huge skull dominating the skyline - an island that was actually _alive_. Yes, the word 'shit' was appropriate.

'Are you alright?' Englehorn glanced up at the Doctor's words. The other man was peering at him, concern in his eyes.

'Fine,' Englehorn said shortly, and swept an eye over a neatly labelled map.

'I was just saying, I've used data from the TARDIS' scanners to deduce the centre of the temporal nexus point Peri and myself were tracking before we arrived on your ship. It's a safe bet that if Skull Island does exist out here, it'll be at the centre of the Time Distortion. Using the data I can get a rough idea of where the epicentre is.' The Doctor tapped a finger on a cross marked on a map of the area, 'Right here.'

'So all we have to do,' Englehorn said carefully, 'is avoid those coordinates?'

'Yes,' the Doctor said, 'once you and your ship are safe, the TARDIS can take me and Peri back there to neutralise the distortions.'

'What?' the captain said, 'I've got another bloody man on my hands looking for this island? Christ, bloody scientists and filmmakers!'

'Captain,' the Doctor said, keeping irritatingly calm, 'This nexus point could be incredibly dangerous, not just for this relative time period, but for the whole of established history. I have to stop that from happening.'

'And what qualifies you for the job?' Englehorn snapped, although he wasn't entirely sure of everything the Doctor had just said.

'Whatever that island really is, it should not exist. History has already been mapped out, Captain, and Skull Island is not a part of it. Nexus points signify points at when history can change, interference in Time which could result in Time itself being ripped apart. Wherever these points are found, they have to be contained.'

'What is it with you, Doctor?' Englehorn snarled, 'You waltz in here in your flashy vanishing box, and presume to lord it over everyone else with words we don't understand?'

'If this nexus is left uncontrolled, then the consequences would be unfathomable.'

'Such as?'

The Doctor sighed, with resignation, 'You're a rational man, Captain, which is why you don't believe in Skull Island. So I need to provide you with something more before you trust me.'

'It would help,' Englehorn replied sarcastically.

'Follow me,' the Doctor turned, and abruptly left the wheelhouse. The Captain remained seated for a few seconds, then stood up and strode after the Doctor.

'Hold the fort until I'm back,' Englehorn said over his shoulder to Hayes, as he left the wheelhouse after the Doctor's retreating back. He followed the Doctor all the way down to the hold, eyeing the Doctor suspiciously. Precisely what would the Doctor show him? His magic box?

They reached the hold, and the Doctor headed straight for his box, stepped inside and left the door open. Englehorn paused. Did the Doctor really expect him to go inside that thing? It was barely big enough for the Doctor! How Miss Brown could bring herself to get in there was beyond him.

'You alright, Captain?' Jimmy was sitting on a barrel close to Jack's cage, with his book out.

'Are you coming?' the Doctor's voice floated out of the box.

The Captain glanced at Jimmy. He wasn't sure of this - they'd already seen one thing that defied belief, and who knew what would happen?

'Jimmy,' the Captain said, 'I need another pair of eyes.'

'Sure thing, Sir,' the boy said, and stood up. Warily, the Captain walked across to the box, the TARDIS. Did the Doctor really expect them to just 'snuggle up'? Englehorn sighed, then stepped in after the Doctor.

What he saw took his breath away. A cavernous space, larger than the poop deck, all in white, and the walls covered in circular recesses. The Doctor stood at a central six sided console, tapping buttons. He glanced up when Englehorn entered.

'I assure you,' he said, recognising the look on the Captain's face, 'This is real. My box is larger on the inside than the outside.'

'But how can this be possible?' Englehorn demanded, after a minute of silence.

'The interior and exterior of the TARDIS exist in different dimensions, and the doors are a trans-dimensional gateway between the two,' the Doctor replied, as if he was sick of explaining it.

'Holy shit,' Jimmy breathed as he followed his captain through the doors. The Doctor glanced up from the buttons, and his eyes flicked to Englehorn.

'A second opinion?'

'I can't help but be suspicious of someone who appears in a box. What if you've drugged me?'

'Which is why you brought Jimmy along, despite the fact it could be dangerous?'

Englehorn glanced at the boy, who was examining the console, wonder on his face.

'I wouldn't touch that,' the Doctor warned Jimmy, 'We could wind up anywhere.'

He pointed to a screen on the console, 'This display shows the location of a temporal nexus point - a point where history has changed -' he added for Jimmy's benefit, 'approximately twenty nautical miles to the north.' The Doctor moved around the console to another screen, 'and this one shows a second, in October 1930, and the TARDIS can transport us there. Shall we?' he glanced up at Englehorn. Jimmy looked nonplussed, but Englehorn set his jaw grimly. Although his face didn't show it, the Doctor could tell from the look in his eyes that he was only just managing to deal with this.

'You asked me for proof of what I said,' the Doctor reminded him gently. 'This is the easiest way to show it.'

Englehorn stayed silent for a moment.

'Captain?' Jimmy queried.

'Why are you so calm?' Englehorn snapped. Jimmy looked stung, and stammered something under his breath. Englehorn sighed, and addressed the Doctor. 'Get on with it,' he said.

The Doctor pulled a lever, and two large doors, with recessed roundels like the walls, rumbled shut. Then the Doctor reached for another control, and pressed it. The unearthly rumbling that heralded the TARDIS' arrival rose and fell, as did the column at the centre of the console. They were in flight.

A few moments passed, the Doctor checking instruments on the console, Jimmy watching him, amazed, and Englehorn sullenly silent. Then the rumbling sounded again, and the column ceased its oscillation.

They had arrived.

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) Ooo. Isn't it exciting? Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter (if not, please say why), and I will try and get the next one up once I've washed off all stage make-up. Apologies if the next notes are written in character. Now, I just need to practice hissing… (_END NOTE_)


	5. Unnatural History

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) Well, here we are again, happy as can be, all good friends and (starts singing, eventually stops). Sorry. Now, here we have chapter five. I've had a bit of trouble writing this recently, what with a short story competition with a prize of some book vouchers and sudden inspiration for a second jumper story, you know how it is. But now I've got round to it, what fun it has been to paint a well-known setting in a completely different light. Enjoy! (_END NOTE_)

CHAPTER FIVE

The Doctor checked a readout on the console, before reaching for the lever that opened the doors. The doors ground open, and Englehorn felt the drop in temperature.

'What now?' he asked.

'We go outside,' the Doctor said, as if it were obvious - which of course it was. Jimmy shrugged, and followed the Doctor out. Englehorn heard the boy swear, and followed him out.

Englehorn stepped outside, and stopped. The Doctor and Jimmy were standing at a railing, looking out over a darkened city. The Doctor was pointing, and talking like a tour guide.

'If you look carefully, you should be able to make out the Chrysler building.'

'So we're in New York?' Englehorn asked.

'Yes,' came the reply.

Englehorn turned, and saw the zeppelin mooring mast of the Empire State Building just above him. He looked back down at the TARDIS, the incongruous blue box that contained power he had never imagined. He glanced back to the Doctor, the calm man who controlled that power. If a thing such as this transport across space was true, what did that say for Skull Island, and these nexus points?

Englehorn walked up behind Jimmy, who was awed at what had just happened. He kept glancing back at the TARDIS, and back to the New York skyline.

'Why's it all dark?' he asked.

'I don't know,' the Doctor replied, 'Perhaps we should ask him?'

Englehorn turned to see a man crossing the balcony. He was dishevelled, unshaven, and very dirty – almost as bad as when Jimmy and Hayes had been after chasing a crocodile in a muddy swamp. The man was muttering to himself, sniffing occasionally, glancing at something clutched in his hand.

'Excuse me,' the Doctor called, bounding over to him. The Doctor appeared excited, and Englehorn didn't blame him. If you could go anywhere in the world, whenever you wanted, in a ship that defied science, who wouldn't be excited?

'What d'ya want?' the man grunted, glaring suspiciously at the Doctor, Jimmy and Englehorn.

'We're new here, so I was wondering if you could explain to us why this skyline is so dark. Usually it's glowing like the Medusa Cascade,' the Doctor said, completely oblivious to the suspicious looks. They made Englehorn feel a little embarrassed.

'Are you thick or something?' the man snapped, 'This is one of the last bastions of the free world, and you're asking why the lights are out?'

'_Last bastion of the free world_?!' Englehorn repeated, stunned.

'Yeah,' the man replied, peering at Englehorn, who saw that this wreck of a human being was just a few years older than Jimmy, 'You don't know? Christ, where the hell have you been for the last five years? Space?'

'Funny you should say that -' the Doctor began, but Englehorn silenced him with a glare which had caused sailors to forget the itches in their trousers until just after they had left port.

'What date is it?' Jimmy said, suddenly. Englehorn's gaze snapped to the boy. Why had he asked that? Sure, he was an intelligent lad, but the Doctor's box couldn't have transported them through time.

The man started to splutter, but decided to give in, 'Fifteenth of January, 1935.'

'_What?_' Englehorn snapped, his head swinging back to face the man, who looked at him like he was a loony.

A wailing noise split the air, piercing Englehorn's ears. 'Air raid siren,' the Doctor explained.

'Air raid?'

'Shit,' the man cursed, 'it's the Brits coming in for another wave!'

'_What?_' Englehorn said again. Jimmy looked surprised – one thing they did know about him was his nationality (British) as he'd stowed aboard at Southampton.

'Why don't you tell us what happened in October 1930?' the Doctor said gently.

'What the hell is wrong with you, you -' the man began, but was cut off by the noise of a bi-plane swinging above them. It shot straight for the Chrysler building, followed by squadron upon squadron of its fellows. It aimed at Chrysler, and fired its weapon. A dazzling blast of red light erupted from its nose, slamming into the Chrysler building with a colossal _boom_. Then the whole balcony was lit up as the Chrysler building exploded. The shock wave slammed into Englehorn, flinging him against the man and the wall of the Empire State. The Doctor and Jimmy hit the wall next to them. Jimmy staggered off the wall, dazed.

'_DOWN!!_' the Doctor bellowed with an authority that belied his years, and he launched himself at Jimmy. Englehorn obeyed without a second thought, asking himself what he was doing as he hit the concrete. He was answered as Jimmy yelled in pain.

Something rained on his back, and when he sat up he realised what it was. Shrapnel – all that was left of the upper floors of the Chrysler building, and a large fragment of glass was now embedded in Jimmy's shoulder and several smaller ones in his face, because he hadn't got out of the way in time.

Around them, explosions rattled as the bi-planes blew up more buildings, sending their deadly waves of shrapnel flying. They stayed down, protected by the wall around the balcony. The Doctor was examining the glass chip the size of Englehorn's hand stuck in Jimmy's flesh.

'Oh, nasty,' he muttered, glancing at Jimmy. The boy's eyes were closed, and it was obvious he was trying not to let the pain show on his face.

'Shit,' the man whispered, watching blood run down Jimmy's cheek and soak into the fabric of his shirt.

'October 1930,' the Doctor prompted as he fished around in his pockets. Englehorn looked on, annoyed that he couldn't work out what to do for his injured crewmember.

'Oh, right,' the man said, and the Doctor popped a tablet into Jimmy's mouth. The boy's face eased considerably in response to the painkiller. 'It all started when the R101 landed at Karachi.'

'The R101?' Englehorn interrupted, 'That crashed, didn't it?'

'Nah,' the man replied, looking at Englehorn oddly again before continuing, 'and when it landed it had those light weapons.'

'Phased energy weapons,' the Doctor said, not looking up from the fluid he was loading into a pocket syringe, 'Nasty way to go. Captain, I'm going to take this glass shard out. I'll need you to put this pad on the wound immediately afterwards and apply pressure.'

Gingerly, Englehorn took the pad and positioned himself close to Jimmy as another building exploded nearby.

'Once the Brits had those weapons,' the man continued, 'No one dared stand against them. Except us, of course. And France, but they were annihilated in '32, along with half of Germany.'

'You mean America?' the Doctor said, putting his handkerchief wrapped hands around the glass and yanking it free. The Captain moved in with the pad, slapping it over the now open wound, forcing himself to ignore Jimmy's pained yelp.

'Of course America,' the man replied, 'then they invaded last year.'

'And New York is all that's left?' The Doctor pulled the wrapping off the needle, and jabbed it through the pad, injecting the fluid directly into Jimmy's wound.

'Yeah,' the man replied, 'we never stood a chance.'

A plane zoomed past, its engine setting Englehorn's ears ringing. Then it opened fire. The beam passed straight through the man, drowning out his agonised scream, and carved its way through the zeppelin tower, raining small – very small this time – fragments of glass onto them. Englehorn stared at the corpse, revolted, both by the sight and the smell of the burnt flesh. The man's body had been sheared clean in two, his head and chest missing, replaced by a pool of beige slime. Englehorn was unable to tear his vision from the horrific object.

It was the Doctor who brought him back to Earth.

'Seen enough?'

'Yes,' Englehorn said, quietly.

'Then help me get Jimmy into the TARDIS before that mast collapses on us.'

Englehorn looked up, and saw the Zeppelin mast leaning alarmingly towards them. He grabbed Jimmy's uninjured shoulder and hoisted the boy onto his feet, whilst the Doctor held Jimmy's arm and guided him towards the TARDIS. Above them, the mast creaked, something snapped, and it leaned closer, straining against the few filaments of metal holding it in place.

'Doctor,' Englehorn yelled above the noise of the planes, 'that mast is going to fall!'

'Not on us!' the Doctor yelled, increasing the pace of their running, shoulder-charging the TARDIS door and dragging the other two in after him, just as the zeppelin mast gave up its hold. It plunged down, smashing into the balcony, then majestically tipping over the edge, and plummeting 100 stories before hitting the tarmac with a crash like a bull hitting a china shop at eighty miles per hour. Then the wheezing and groaning began, and the TARDIS dematerialised, leaving New York as it burnt.

The Doctor gently peeled the pad off Jimmy's shoulder, revealing whole, unbroken skin beneath it.

'How?' Englehorn gasped.

'I injected him with a shot of nanogenes, microscopic machines used on future battlefields to heal wounds quickly,' the Doctor replied, businesslike, 'but I'm not sure how much power they have left – they could run out in the next few days.'

He was interrupted by an incessant bleeping from the console, which he went to check.

'How're you feeling?' Englehorn asked, concern for Jimmy overriding what sounded like an alarm.

'Fine,' Jimmy replied, examining the former location of a bloody piece of the Chrysler building.

'Oh dear,' the Doctor muttered.

'What?' Jimmy said, alarmed. His response was a flash and a shower of sparks from the console.

'It's the Nexus point,' the Doctor yelled as the TARDIS pitched, throwing Englehorn against the wall, more parts of the console exploding, 'It's growing, it's much bigger than I previously thought…'

'And that means?'

'It threatens more than just the history of the Earth,' the Doctor glanced up from the screen where he was clinging to the console, 'It threatens the entire multiverse.'

'That bad?'

'Yes.'

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) There we go. Potential threat explained, and plot shifted forward. Today's to-do list is almost complete, apart from cleaning the carpet and changing the locks. Luckily, I should have enough time to do that before Mrs Sauskin next door suffers a relapse… (_END NOTE_)


	6. Lost Time

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) As I listened to Mitch Benn's song, _Doctor Who Girl_, it reminded me that I had this to post, just as I was planning an epic video game adaptation. So here it is, a chapter which reveals precisely the point of the recent trip to the big apple (or rather the recent trip to the big apple which is about to get crushed beneath the wheels of a speeding 4x4 because some idiot dropped it). Now, on with the show… (_END NOTE_)

CHAPTER SIX

The Doctor checked the console's readings, tutting to himself.

'What is it?' Englehorn demanded, concern flashing across his usually impassive features.

'There's good news and bad news I'm afraid,' The Doctor said, 'the Good news is that we're back aboard the _Venture.'_

'And the bad news?' Jimmy prompted.

'The chronon radiation from the nexus point messed up the TARDIS's chronos nodes.'

'In English,' Englehorn snapped, not understanding, or liking the sound of it.

'We've slipped in time,' The Doctor replied, 'If we're lucky, we'll have got back a few hours after we left. And that's only if we're _very _lucky.'

'And if we're unlucky?' Jimmy asked, after a short silence.

'Then we could have slipped back as much as three weeks.'

'_What?_' Englehorn exploded.

'Let's just find out,' the Doctor said, worriedly, and pulled the lever to open the doors.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Peri stood outside the TARDIS, tapping her foot, her face like thunder during the hyper-storms of the planet Lantea. In other words, she was absolutely furious.

"Where the _hell_ have you been?" she exploded as the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, "It's been three days!"

"Has it?" the Doctor asked, his brow furrowing, "We were lucky."

Peri's eyes swivelled as Englehorn exited the TARDIS, followed by Jimmy. Her drilling gaze made the captain wish he'd stayed inside the impossible room.

Peri's eyes turned again, slamming back into the Doctor, who was looking annoyingly apologetic, like he usually did after sneaking off.

"Explain, now," Peri growled, her nostrils flaring like a dragon about to sneeze.

"Miss Brown-" Hayes stepped into the hold, concern in his voice. It was odd that she'd just ran off like that, just after touching the key on a chain round her neck. Hayes stopped as he saw Englehorn and Jimmy.

"Jimmy!" Hayes gasped, before quickly recovering, "Where the hell have you been? I thought Denham had chucked you overboard!"

"Sorry, Mr Hayes," Jimmy began, looking abashed.

"Don't sorry me!" Hayes replied sternly, anger starting to rise in his voice, "I had no idea what had happened!"

"The Doctor is about to explain," Peri said, still tapping her foot and looking like she could melt solid ibanium with a look. And that would be quite an achievement.

"Ah, yes," the Doctor began, under the twin glares of Peri and Hayes.

"I'm afraid it's my fault, Mr Hayes," Englehorn cut in before the Doctor could say another word. Hayes turned to look at his Captain, still angry, but aware that Englehorn would have a good reason for it.

"The Doctor has a good idea where Skull Island might be," the Captain began, slightly uneasily, "Apparently it may lie on a 'temporal nexus point'."

"And that is?" Hayes prompted.

"A distortion of established historical patterns," the Doctor supplied quickly, motioning at Englehorn to continue.

"Apparently it's very dangerous, and needs to be prevented. I didn't take the Doctor seriously - I thought he was just like Denham, looking for this island for personal gain."

"Sorry, Doctor, Miss Brown," Hayes interrupted, fixing the Doctor with a steely look, "but I'm inclined to agree with that assessment."

"The Doctor offered to show me proof of what he said," Englehorn continued patiently, "and brought me down here. He asked me to step inside the blue box, the TARDIS, and I asked Jimmy to come along as a second pair of eyes, because I knew I could trust him."

"Why didn't you ask me?" Hayes demanded. He was, after all, the Chief Mate.

"Jimmy was closer when the thought occurred to me," Englehorn replied, "and we went in…" Englehorn paused, frowning. He glanced at the Doctor, "I don't really know how to explain this…"

"It's easy," Peri said, calmer now she understood why the Doctor had gone off, "Mr Hayes, the TARDIS is a machine like a ship, only it can travel through space as well as time. I can't even pretend to understand how, but it does it all right. It's how we came aboard."

"What?" Hayes said, disbelief obvious.

"I know it sounds ridiculous, Mr Hayes," Jimmy put in, "but it's true."

"So," Hayes said, humouring them, "Where did this magic travelling box take you?"

"New York, 1934," Englehorn answered, "New York under siege from the British Empire, because the R101 airship didn't crash in 1930."

Hayes said nothing. He just folded his arms and raised his eyebrows.

The Doctor moved closer to Peri whilst Englehorn and Jimmy tried to explain to Hayes what had just happened.

"Sorry about that," he said, looking apologetic again.

"It's okay," Peri said, "I forgive you. Next time I need some plant samples carried though…"

"Alright," the Doctor said, smiling, "Use me as a wheelbarrow. Anyway, I need to know what's happened over the last three days."

"Okay," Peri said, "Well, Hayes flipped when you vanished with Jimmy an the captain, but I knew what had happened when I found the TARDIS had gone."

"I think the TARDIS won't be up to another trip," the Doctor said, "The Nexus point is growing, and it took a lot out of her."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, sorry. Please, carry on."

"Anyway, Hayes was convinced Denham had done something, and locked him in his cabin. Jack tried to explain about what he saw the TARDIS do, but Hayes didn't listen, especially when an order came through to divert to Rangoon so Denham could be arrested."

"Arrested?"

"Something to do with not paying a bill," Peri replied.

"Mr Hayes!"

All heads turned at the shout, as the young sailor, Sam Griffin, stuck his head round the door, a look of panic on his face. Then he saw Englehorn.

"Captain?"

"Never mind that," Englehorn snapped, instantly back in command, "What's wrong?"

"The compass is going haywire!"

"Then use the stars to check the position," Englehorn said, frowning, not sure why the young man was so concerned.

Said young man swallowed. "There are no stars, Captain."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Englehorn strode onto the deck by the wheelhouse, staring into the sky, at no stars.

"It was full of stars just a few minutes ago," Sam Griffin stammered.

"It could have been a cloud," Englehorn replied, very glad to be back on his ship.

"The sky was clear," Griffin replied.

The Doctor was rummaging in his pocket, and produced a small object. He examined it, twisting switches on the side.

"Englehorn!" a very annoyed and very American voice bellowed, getting closer with the inevitability of night following day.

"Not now, Mr Denham," Englehorn snapped, starting to go into the wheelhouse.

"Yes, now," Denham snapped, shoving his way past Hayes and not bothering to notice when he trod on Jimmy's foot, "Look, I need another week."

"What?"

"I'll give you-"

Denham stumbled as the entire of ship shook, vibrating down its whole length, pitching Denham straight into Jimmy, almost knocking the boy overboard. Hayes slid, plummeting down the stairs; Englehorn grabbed the doorframe; and the Doctor seized Peri's hand and a railing.

"What the _fu_-" Denham began, only to be cut off by Jimmy jabbing him somewhere painful. He rolled off the boy, groaning.

"Captain," the Doctor said, straightening as he helped Peri stand, "I'm detecting an energy field surrounding this area. It's probably affecting the view of the sky."

"Is that bad?"

"Not in itself," the Doctor admitted, examining his device, and looking rather alarmed, "but…"

"Mr Hayes!" a voice called from below, urgently, "The engines aren't responding!"

"What?" Hayes asked, getting unsteadily to his feet.

"The engine just shut down," said the unseen sailor.

Englehorn paused, feeling the motion of the ship through the deck, "but why are we still moving?"

"Exactly," the Doctor said, "This energy field is drawing us in."

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) There it is. You can probably guess what's going to happen in the next chapter, which may have happened in chapter fourteen if I had to write another three days worth of character interaction, with very little happening by way of plot. I also needed a way to get Englehorn to trust the Doctor, so combining that with the Timeslip seemed a good way to move the plot along. Of course, that means I'll have to show established relationships when they actually reach the titular location, but I suppose I'll have to cross that bridge when I come to it. All from me for now, so bye for now! (_END NOTE_)


	7. The Fog

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) Caellach Tiger Eye has asked why I decided to use the Fifth Doctor and Peri. The answer is that one important element of the King Kong story is **compassion** - Kong's and Jack's compassion for Ann and Jack's compassion for Kong (and in the new version, Hayes' compassion for Jimmy). The fifth has always stuck me as one of the most compassionate of the Doctor's incarnations, and I felt that it was a quality the Doctor needed for this story. I mean the Seventh playing one of his manipulative games across time and space would take a lot of the emotion out of the story. I chose Peri because, being American, she would fit in with the story's American origins. Incidentally, if Caellach Tiger Eye wants to find more stories with Peri, than Big Finish productions have been producing full-cast audio dramas featuring Doctors 5-8 (played by the original actors) alongside companions old and new (including Peri, and in some cases alongside new companion Erimem). The audios are available on CD and download via . Now, the house lights go down, and the curtain goes up… (_END NOTE_)

CHAPTER SEVEN

"Captain…" Jimmy whispered, staring past Englehorn, in the direction that the invisible ship was being dragged, pulled by the spider to the very centre of its web.

"What is it?" Englehorn said, turning to see. And he froze.

A gigantic wall of white fog confronted him, rising at least ten storeys out of the glassy surface of the sea, like a spectre - a spectre that the ship was being inexorably drawn towards. The vision held them for a moment, holding them with the hypnotic movements of the coils of mist, until the Doctor broke the silence.

"There's nothing we can do," he said quietly, "The tracker says that the field is in excess of eighty macroteslas."

"That's a lot, isn't it?" Peri asked.

"Yes," the Doctor said, his face grave, "It's incredibly powerful – even a TARDIS would be hard-pressed to escape a field of that strength."

"So we have no way out," Jimmy said.

"Quite," the Doctor said, frowning, "the power needed to generate a field of this magnitude is enormous, so it must be drawing energy from the nexus point…"

"So there's something intelligent in the middle of that fog?" Peri asked nervously.

"To build something that could sap energy from a nexus point, they'd have to be _incredibly_ clever. There aren't many races with that kind of brain capacity."

"Fascinating though this is," Englehorn interrupted, "Do you have any idea of what's in the middle of that?"

The Doctor paused for a moment, then said, matter-of-fact, "Skull Island?"

"Oh finally," said a voice from the stairs, as Denham climbed onto the deck, staring hungrily at the fog.

"Mr Denham," the Doctor asked, "Do you have any idea what might be waiting for us when we reach the island?"

Denham didn't reply. He just stared at the fog as it came closer and closer.

"Shouldn't we be doing something about the fog?" someone asked.

"Ah yes," Englehorn said, "very sensible, Miss Brown," he turned to Jimmy, "Go and get in the crow's nest."

"Yes captain," Jimmy said, and ran off quickly.

"Doctor," Englehorn turned to the Time Lord, "Is there anything you can do?"

"There might be," the Doctor paused for a second, lost in thought, then he snapped his fingers, "Yes! Peri, I'll need a hand fetching something from the TARDIS."

He turned, and headed down the ramp, followed by Peri.

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Slowly, the _Venture_ slid into the fog, being swallowed in a few seconds, and then everything was white. Solid white, as far as the eye could see, which was about six feet. The tendrils of mist spun around the ship, sinking to the level of the deck and swirling around people's feet. Sailors stopped what they were doing and gazed around them, in the eerie silence of the mist. They couldn't even hear the sound of the sea around the ship's hull. It was like night in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, miles from anywhere. Utterly lonely, no visibility, and silent as the grave.

Up in the crow's nest, Jimmy glanced around him, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck prickle, feeling the moisture-laden mist settle on his face and the nape of his neck through the open collar of his shirt. He noticed he was gripping the rail so hard his knuckles were white, and a sense of foreboding began to itch in his consciousness, along with another feeling he knew well. Fear.

The Doctor and Peri exited the ship's superstructure a few minutes later carrying a large device between them, which they carried to the front of the boat. The Doctor tied a rope to a catch in the device's casing, and the other end to the deck railing, then dropped it into the sea.

Moments later, the Doctor and Peri entered the wheelhouse carrying a portable screen, which they put next to the wheel.

"What is that?" Hayes asked, as Englehorn was focusing on steering the ship.

"Sonic resonance imager," the Doctor supplied, "The device in the sea emits pulses of sound outside audible range and uses the reflected sound to create an image of the surrounding area on this screen," he patted the screen, then reached for a switch on the side.

Above them, Jimmy gazed around him, at the white that blanketed the ship. He glanced down, and swallowed in a dry throat. He couldn't see the deck below him. He looked up, and froze. There seemed to be something in the fog, a kind of greyer mass within the white. He narrowed his eyes, peering intently through the fog, but there was nothing there. Just white.

In the wheelhouse, the Doctor flicked a switch, and the screen flickered, and died.

"Ah," the Doctor said, and switched the screen off, and then back on again.

"What is it?" Hayes asked.

"The detector's not working, although that may have something to do with the fact it's been in a pool halfway up a mountain for several hundred years," the Doctor paused for a second, mulling it over, "Peri, could you fetch the toolbox from the TARDIS?"

"Sure, if I knew where it was."

"Leave the console room, take the first left, up the stairs, down the small corridor, middle fork, left, right, left again, last door on the right."

"Okay…"

"Then through the gallery, down the stairs to level sigma, then go left, up the ladder and across the field and to the left of the pyramid and it should be in the storage cupboard in the galley."

"Didn't we leave it in the emergency bathroom?" Peri asked, looking worried.

The Doctor didn't hear the last comment, as he had strode out of the room. Peri sighed, and followed him.

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The Doctor left Peri as she headed towards the inoperable TARDIS in the ship's hold, and walked towards the front of the ship where he had deposited the sonic resonance imager. He listened out for the sounds transmitted from the device, which were at frequencies too high for the human ear to hear, but it was just at the edge of a Time Lord's hearing range. He heard nothing until he got close to where he'd deposited the device, and then a slight wailing noise reached his ears. Carefully, he took hold of the rope anchoring the device to the ship, and hauled it up.

He examined a readout on the side of the device, which told him that the device was operating normally, so if there was a problem it was with the screen. This was obviously wrong, as the high-pitched wailing the device was emitting wasn't much louder than it had been before he'd taken the device out of the water.

"Here y'go," Peri said as she set down a metal box next to the Doctor.

"You found that quickly," the Doctor remarked.

"It was in the emergency bathroom," Peri replied, "So, what's wrong with it?"

"I don't know," the Doctor said, "But it may have something to do with it being in an ice pool halfway up a mountain for several hundred years mapping a cave system."

Peri didn't bother asking for an explanation.

Above their heads, seemingly in another world completely separate from the rest of the ship, Jimmy peered through the mist, squinting ahead, to where he had seen that grey mass in a slight thinning of the fog. He leaned dangerously out over the rail, scrutinising the gloom ahead. Then he saw it.

The great grey mass rising out of the fog ahead, the indeterminate shape forming itself into a great humped structure. A structure whispered in ancient tales of sailor's folklore across the world, a structure that treasure hunters had long searched for and never found. It sat there like a sleeping dragon, the stonework carved to look like reptilian scales.

"Wall!" Jimmy bellowed, panic rising in his voice, "There's a Wall ahead!"

The Doctor heard the shout, and turned to face the front of the ship. The fog thinned, almost relishing the fear floating off the sailors as the Great Wall of Skull Island was revealed. And then they realised the _Venture _was heading straight for it.

"Holy shit…." Englehorn breathed, as he saw it appearing as if by magic.

Denham stared from the deck, open mouthed in euphoria.

"Doctor," Peri said, "Are we going to hit that thing?"

The Doctor didn't answer, frantically ripping a panel off the side of the sonic resonance imager and plunging a hand into its insides. The other sailors heard Peri's comment, however, and began to panic.

Englehorn realised it too, and lunged to the side, grabbing the telegraph wheels and swinging them round to reverse.

Sailors ran across the decks, grabbing hold of anything they could; a few diving into the dinghies attached to the side of the ship. Peri wrapped her hands around the rail as the Wall came closer, the ship's propellers having no effect whatsoever on its trajectory. The Doctor shifted wires around inside the device as if his hand had taken on a life of its own.

In the wheelhouse, Englehorn desperately spun the wheel, to no effect.

"Brace for impact!" he yelled, as the ship came within five metres of the Wall.

Seconds later, they hit it.

The entire ship shuddered, vibrations rattling its rusty hull, every person on it being thrown violently forwards. Englehorn snapped two of the spokes protruding from the wheel, Hayes smashing one of the wheelhouse windows, Jimmy almost being flung out of the crow's nest. Peri slid across the deck, hitting a pile of crates, whilst the Doctor managed to hold on to both the rail and the sonic resonance imager.

The _Venture_ floundered, and began dragging itself sideways, almost as if the tractor beam drawing it in had changed direction. Its inertia pitched its occupants all over the place, throwing them wildly across decks and cabins. Peri seized the rail, desperately clinging on as the ship jerked its bulk away from the Wall.

A door on the side of the ship's superstructure sprang open, disgorging Jack, Ann, and Bruce. Jack had lipstick on his cheek, Ann had considerably less on her lips, but Bruce didn't notice. He was more concerned with keeping his silk dressing gown dry, and the fact that the recent jolt had caused him to slip whilst trimming his newly-grown moustache. No one noticed his hairnet.

And then the fog lifted.

Ann laid her eyes on the great Wall, staring at the reptilian curves and buttresses emerging from the structure as it towered over slate-grey waves. Jack tore his eyes from the Wall, and saw what else was in the sea.

"Rocks!" he yelled, eyes widening as the ship sped towards a gigantic basalt tower that seemed to be rising out of the water. The Doctor saw it, and hefted the sonic resonance imager as the ship rushed at the rock. He plunged a hand into the device's innards, and then the device came to life. It glowed, and the air between it and the rock seemed to glow, to vibrate, but nothing seemed to happen.

"Come on…" the Doctor whispered through gritted teeth.

The rock was approaching fast, Jack grabbed Ann and held her close, waiting for the impact, and then it came-

The rock shattered into thousands of pieces as the _Venture _slammed into it, and carried on. The three-metre tall upper section of the rock was left intact, and slammed onto the deck, almost crushing Bruce, where it came to rest.

The Doctor quickly checked the device, and his face fell. The low power indicator LED flashed briefly, then died, along with the device. He looked up, and saw another rock approaching fast.

Englehorn saw it coming, tried to spin the wheel to move the ship away, but nothing happened. Then the ship hit the rock, grinding against its surface, then slowed, and stuck fast.

Finally, everything was still. The Doctor hurried across to Peri, and offered his hand to help her stand up. She glanced around her, and froze, staring over the Doctor's shoulder. He saw the look, and turned to see. The fog had completely lifted, revealing an awe-inspiring sight.

"_Fuck…_" Jimmy whispered from the crow's nest, staring open mouthed at what lay before him.

Beyond the rock-strewn sea were tall, sheer grey cliffs, which the Wall continued along after emerging from the water. Beyond the Wall rose jagged, broken peaks covered in lush vegetation, mist swirling around them.

Denham stared, unable to believe his eyes, even though he knew what they saw was real. Skull Island. There it was.

Waiting for him.

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) TZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZING, OOOOOOOOEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! If this were an old-fashioned four-part story, this would be the perfect place to end episode one (well, I think it is). So I intend to take a brief hiatus, and to spend the next few writing sessions focusing on getting my other story (_Jumper: Continuum_) to a similar number of chapters as this one. And I have another few chapters for a third story which have yet to beta-read, and another story synopsis to knock out. It may seem a lot of work, but I've got this little system in place to ensure I don't forget any. Until next time, cheerio! (_END NOTE_)


	8. Skull Island

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) Well, here we are once again, for the next exciting instalment (I hope). In response to the recent launch of the crossover section, I am wondering whether to move this story to that section. But I'm not sure if I should, because I want this to appeal to both Doctor Who and King Kong fans, rather than just crossover fans. So, if anyone knows how the crossover section works (eg. In which category stories are displayed) please let me know. Anyway, enough of my ramblings, on with the story! (_END NOTE_)

CHAPTER EIGHT

The Doctor shoved a bag of jelly babies into the pocket of his coat, then climbed into the dinghy. He was closely followed by Peri, Ann, Jack and most of Denham's film crew.

Once they had arrived, Denham had demanded that he be allowed to go ashore, and had promised Englehorn a share in the profits from this discovery. Englehorn had agreed pretty much instantly, now aware of what damage the nexus point on this island could do with the timelines. He had, however, imposed a few conditions on the landing party – a few sailors, including Hayes, would be sent along with them to look after Jack, Miss Darrow, Herb, Preston, Mike, other members of Denham's film crew, the Doctor and Miss Brown. Denham's face had turned red, partly because he and Baxter hadn't been included on that list, but mostly because the Doctor was going ashore. However, he had to accept it because the other option was to be forcibly restrained.

Peri settled next to the Doctor.

"So," she said, "Nexus point ahoy. Along with danger, beautiful monsters and ravening princesses."

"Oh, don't worry," the Doctor said with a small smile, "After that business with the Chaos Pool, this'll be a doddle."

"Yes," Peri frowned, "You really should tell me about that someday."

They were distracted by an argument just outside the second boat. Jimmy was standing in front of Hayes, looking crestfallen.

"No," Hayes was saying angrily, "You have no idea how dangerous it could be!"

"You're letting Miss Brown go!" Jimmy said, seeming upset.

"Miss Brown is not a member of this ship's crew! You are! Now stay here!" With that, Hayes turned and climbed into the boat next to Herb. He noticed Peri was looking at him. "What?" he snapped.

"The kid just wants to help," she said quietly.

"And what would you know about it?" Hayes demanded moodily.

"My brother always looked like that when he wanted to help me with something, but I wouldn't let him."

Hayes was prevented from making an irritated reply by the dinghy dropping down into the water. Peri glanced back to where Jimmy had been standing, but the boy had gone.

The dinghy hit the sea, and began to rock in the water as Hayes released the ropes. They immediately began to drift away from the steel hull of the _Venture_, and from the rock it was stuck on. The Doctor peered at where metal met stone, his superior eyesight discerning what the others were not. And it was, in a word, worrying. The metal seemed to be _fused_ to the rock, or the rock had fused to the metal. It didn't really matter. Whatever force had drawn them here clearly didn't want them to leave.

"Okay," Hayes called, "Get rowing before we hit the rocks."

The sailors didn't need telling twice. They grabbed the oars and started to force them in and through the slate-grey waves, whilst Hayes manned the rudder, steering them in between the rocky outcrops that rose from the water as the second boat splashed down behind them. Ann Darrow glanced around, a cold feeling of dread clawing its way up her spine. There was something evil here. At least, that's how it felt. Something evil, and almost as old as time itself.

Water sloshed around one of the rocks, and Ann saw it to be a carved head of some monstrous creature. Hundreds of teeth, six eyes on stalks, a creature alien to any Earthly culture. What had Denham got her into? She reached out to Jack, who sat next to her, clasping his hand. He squeezed hers, and she suddenly felt calmer, reassured.

Eventually, both boats came to rest on a small shingle bay in the mouth of a great tunnel at the base of the towering cliffs. There was a convenient ledge projecting from one wall, leading deep into the island, towards light from a blowhole about two hundred metres away.

Denham paused whilst the sailors stowed the oars in the boats, and collected the rifles and Thompson sub-machineguns Englehorn had issued them with, aiming the camera he had unpacked around him, soaking in the views. Peri stumbled as her foot came down in the cold surf, and she fell right against a young sailor with his hat pulled down low over his face, who caught her awkwardly and helped her stand.

"Thanks," she said.

"S'alright, Miss," he replied gruffly, and turned to retrieve his rifle from the boat. Peri headed over to where the Doctor was stooping over the grey rocks, examining the stone beneath the coating of seaweed.

"Found anything?" she asked.

"Oh yes," the Doctor replied, pointing to small marks in the rock.

"What are they?" Peri asked, leaning in for a closer look, "Some sort of carving?"

"Yes, definitely a form of written language," the Doctor said, frowning, "Similar to ogham and rongorongo."

"I thought the TARDIS was supposed to translate languages for us?"

"It is," the Doctor confirmed, "Unless the language is incredibly old."

"How old are we talking here?"

"The Dark Times," The Doctor's normal youthful optimism had vanished, replaced by a worried frown, "If there is one of the races from those times here, then things could get very bad, very fast."

"Okay," Hayes called from the ledge, "Let's move."

The group began to walk along the ledge at the side of the tunnel, mostly in single file, but a few two-by-two. Peri found herself beside the young sailor who'd helped her when she'd stumbled.

"You do know," she whispered out of the corner of her mouth, "that Hayes is gonna flip when he finds out you're here, Jimmy."

Jimmy started, turning to look at Peri. Now she could see his eyes under the peak of his cap, despite the shadows of the tunnel.

"You won't tell him, will you?" the boy whispered, shamefaced.

"Sure I won't," Peri replied, smiling slightly, "But when he finds out I'll deny all knowledge."

"I just want to know what's here," Jimmy said, looking away from Peri and down at his boots.

"Curiosity killed the cat," Peri said, "But that's human nature. No-one can blame you for it. I mean, the Doctor's like that all the time."

They were interrupted by Hayes, who was at the front of the procession, closely followed by Denham and Herb, with the Doctor close behind them. They stopped at a point where the ledge ended and a cave turned right, into the rock.

"Mr Hayes," the Doctor said, pushing past Denham, "I've been examining this ledge as we moved along it, and it seems to have been carved."

"How the hell do you know?" Denham snapped.

"Chisel marks on the edge," the Doctor replied, "So it's likely we're on a safe path. Therefore, it is likely that this cave is the continuation of said safe path."

Hayes stared at him. The Doctor had guessed exactly what he was thinking – risk getting lost or injured in a cave system or turn back. Damn him. Hayes had been banking on turning back.

Grudgingly, Hayes led them forwards into the cave, expecting to find a bottomless crevasse or three, but there were no such hazards. The cave continued in an unbroken tunnel illuminated by the torches carried by several sailors. Then it suddenly emerged into a wide gorge, a crack in the rock plunging straight down into roiling water. Except for the bamboo bridge spanning the gorge, leading to another cave on the opposite side.

"Cross one at a time," Hayes said, then gingerly stepped out onto the bridge, and walked across it, stopping whenever he heard a creak, half expecting it to snap and send him plunging to his doom. But the bridge held. He stopped on the other side, and waited for everyone else to cross before pushing past them to the front. Jimmy looked down as he passed; not looking up until Hayes was far off.

Ann glanced round her, feeling that dread knot in her stomach. There were niches carved into the walls, and eyes, staring out at her. Hollow eyes – skulls. Hundreds upon hundreds of skulls, piled high in their niches. All decayed, rotten, and dead.

The group continued to move through the tunnels, the Doctor glancing around with a look of fascination on his face, until they emerged from the tunnel onto a large plateau at the top of the cliffs. The plateau was covered in intricately carved buildings, hundreds of small ziggurats, each tier composed of an inverted trapezoid, getting progressively smaller as they got higher off the ground. Surrounding the ziggurats were stone roads and fairways, peppered with cracks and crevasses, littered with massive bamboo structures, surrounding an oval-shaped central plaza. And towering above it was the Wall. At least a hundred feet tall, the stone that composed its gigantic flanks was arranged so that its sides appeared scaled, like the Wall was a living creature, a gigantic snake sleeping above the ruined city. At the centre, where the plaza stretched right to the foot of the structure, was a massive gate, flanked by a pair of steep staircases, similar to ones the Doctor had seen on old Aztec pyramids. Only these staircases weren't running with blood.

"My God," Hayes whispered.

"Not god," the Doctor said, "I've seen ancient cities like this before. This city was created by human hands, meaning that this island was, and maybe still is, inhabited."

Hayes was silent for a moment, then he said, "My God…"

Peri heard the Doctor's comment from beside Jimmy, and craned her head to see the city. She heard Jimmy swear quietly next to her, but his eyes were wide, clearly amazed at what he was seeing.

They stood there in silence, staring at the Wall and the ruins for several minutes. The only noise beside the sea and the whistling wind was the click-click of the handle on Denham's camera. Eventually, the Doctor spoke.

"Does anyone else think we should have a look around?"

Denham stood up and strolled forwards, for once agreeing with the Doctor, leaving Preston and Herb to carry the camera.

They began to descend a steep set of steps which led down from the cliff where they had been standing onto the plateau, where the wind took on an eerie quality as it whistled between the ancient buildings and the bamboo scaffolds. They walked down the streets, everyone feeling the cold dread now. Peri could tell how edgy Jimmy was from the way his eyes darted around, from the white of his knuckles as he gripped the rifle. Travelling with the Doctor had taught her to be observant – miniscule details were often the key to defeating a despotic regime. They negotiated ledges and crossed great cracks, Denham appearing to care more for his camera than the lives of his assistants.

As they stopped to let Denham film, the Doctor examined some carvings, and Peri went over to him.

"Found anything?" she inquired.

"Perhaps," he replied, "This is interesting, it appears to depict a people receiving a gift from the Gods."

"Is that why we've seen nobody?" Peri asked, "I mean, we've met aliens playing God before."

"Sekhmet, you mean?"

"Yeah. Could the gift have been some advanced technology that killed the people here?"

"Possibly," the Doctor mused.

Preston glanced around himself, nervously, "It's deserted," he muttered.

"Of course it's deserted," Leonard, the theatre actor, grunted, "Look at it. This place is in ruins. If there _were_ any people here, there sure ain't now."

It was at that moment, with highly refined dramatic sense, that a piercing, echoing, unearthly wail rang out across the plateau.

In the ensuing silence, a young man working as a dogsbody on Denham's film muttered to himself, "Seems someone spoke too soon…"

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) Ooooo. Of course, anyone of you who has seen the 2005 King Kong can probably guess what's going to happen next, but there will be something a bit different. I feel I have to point out to Marcus S. Lazarus that the nexus point located on Skull Island does not result in Britain conquering the world (as if we would do such a thing after what happened last time), but potentially in something much much worse. Also, after the next two chapters, the time between updates will probably increase due to a rising workload. Until next time… (_END NOTE_)


	9. Gift of the Gods

CHAPTER NINE

Everyone looked around them, the hairs on the back of their collective necks standing up on end. What had made that sound? One of the legendary living skeletons? A creature spawned from hell itself? Or, Peri thought, trying to distract herself from fear, Lily Allen's inner voice?

Then she saw it.

"Doctor," she said, quietly, staring. Everyone turned at the sound of her voice, and they saw it. It started to rain, large, fat drops that were actually painful.

It was a girl. Standing in the street, completely unafraid, indifferent to the stinging rain. She was small, with dark skin, and completely naked. Her long, bedraggled hair hung across her thin body like a veil. She made no noise, no movement, just stared at the intruders with wide, unblinking eyes. Unblinking _red_ eyes.

"Mr Denham," Ann whispered, shaking, "I think we should leave. Now."

Denham however, dismissed the thought, "I'll handle this," he said, and began to walk towards the girl, reaching into his jacket pocket as he did so.

"Mr Denham," the Doctor called out, "This might not be a wise course of action…"

Denham ignored him, but then froze. The child had moved. Slowly, with almost feline grace, she lifted an arm so it was pointing directly at the group of intruders. She flicked her hand, then did it again. Cautiously, Denham began to approach again, producing a bar of Nestlé chocolate from his pocket. No-one noticed dark shapes slinking across the tiers of the ziggurats behind them, moving into coordinated positions in response to the child's signal.

"Look," Denham said, patronisingly, smiling in what he thought was a friendly manner, "Chocolate…" The child did not respond. It just stood there, one arm raised, red eyes drilling into Denham. The filmmaker continued his approach, "You like chocolate?"

No response. Not even now Denham was standing right in front of her. He held out the chocolate to her raised hand, but she did nothing.

"Good to eat," Denham continued, despite the fact he was getting nowhere, "Take it," he added, shaking the bar.

Nothing.

"C'mon," Denham snapped, losing patience, "Put it in your hand and take it!"

He grabbed the girl's hand and tried to wrap it around the chocolate bar. She wailed, and struggled, pulling with surprising strength.

"For God's sake, Denham," Bruce sighed, "Leave the native alone."

"She doesn't want the chocolate," Jack added.

Then the child leaned in, and sank teeth filed to points into Denham's wrist.

He cried out, releasing his grip on the girl. She ran, Denham pursuing in anger, to slide to a halt as he saw the girl in the arms of a fearsome old woman.

Denham glance around, as people melted out of the shadows – hollow-eyed women, elderly men. They slowly began to creep forwards, and some of the sailors drew back. Jimmy raised his gun, only for Peri to force it down.

"We don't want to make things worse," she hissed. Jimmy swallowed, and lowered the weapon.

"It's okay," Denham said impatiently, "It's just a bunch of women and old folks. They're harmless."

"_Kehn chehveht,_" the old woman hissed.

"What?" Denham said.

Further back, Ann heard a soft thump, and Mike, the sound technician, lurched forwards, a jagged spear protruding from his back. Ann screamed in panic, the noise so loud it echoed across the plateau, and the Wall.

Seconds later, a deep, rumbling, bestial roar exploded out of the silence, as if in answer to Ann's cry. Everyone, even the natives froze, until the sound had stopped.

It was the old woman who broke the silence, "_Tsahn botaigahn shehm_," she whispered, fear making her voice shake. In her arms, the girl cowered. "_Meht misho tsahv, teh Kong…_" she raised her head, glaring at the intruders. She raised a hand to point at them, and she screeched "_Teh dotahgehn b'seht!_"

Bodies slammed into Peri, forcing her away from Jimmy. Native men materialised from nowhere, leaping upon the sailors, wrapping their arms around their prey. Their naked bodies were all scarred with strange designs, smeared with mud and dye, bones piercing their muscles and faces. They threw themselves at the sailors, several men to each, ripping Ann away from Jack, dragging the Doctor to the ground. Hayes was in the grip of eight natives before he could react, his gun lost, he could only watch as his crewmates were seized, disarmed and subdued. He saw one sailor have his cap ripped off, and to his shock he found himself staring into Jimmy's face as the boy struggled, only for a native to smash the side of his face with a bone-studded club, drawing blood. Jack dived at Ann, only for natives to grab him from behind, dragging him backwards.

Ann turned, and saw the old woman advancing on her, chanting in her hoarse voice, a look of pure hate on her face.

"_Yootaieht mahnot b'nahvahot, doprahchizehn b'zoo dho muhkhon b'tairoosh lehmahrnehm meht, tahgahmehm, tsahn botaigahn shehm, b'fahsee__, larr'i yu sano k'ore, kweh'yone kah-weh ad'larr, tore Kong__! Khoy rehgehdee kat kolkehnehn rehmooshee grehoonahn chehto okh rehzeewai ril bodolpaipeel kohooreht ah mehtm'lah dotsahvehn t'fah trehgahlpotee vogehts__, __tore Kong! Tore Kong!_"

Then she lifted her arms, and pointed towards the central plaza, screeching "_Don erthchir fah!_"  
The natives began to drag their human cargo along the street, until they arrived at the plaza. The Doctor's eyes widened as he saw what a group of native men was placing on an altar at the centre of the plaza. A pyramidal object, at least nine feet tall, made of smooth metal, with a single mark on its surface – a palm print of a human hand. He recognised the device from the carvings he had examined earlier. This was the gift of the Gods.

"_Veechtahvteeon rifeeneet sahehthoy!_" the woman said, and the natives began hauling one of the sailors – Sam Griffin – forwards, towards the Gift. Then they forced Griffin's right hand against the palm-print, and held it there. Nothing happened. Griffin was dragged away, to the opposite side of the plaza, where another group of natives waited, one holding a massive mace studded with what appeared to be massive teeth. Griffin's head was forced onto a stone, tears welling up in his eyes as he realised what was going to happen, as the native raised the mace, as Hayes looked on in horror, and the mace was brought crashing down. Griffin's struggles ceased.

The woman turned to the line of waiting sailors, walking past them, choosing the next victim. She pointed to someone out of Hayes' vision, and spoke, "_Tooleet chilehsh._"

Peter Leonard was dragged forwards, and the whole grisly sequence was repeated. Leonard's hand was pressed against the palm-print, to the same effect as Sam Griffin, and he too was sent to the mace. He closed his eyes, and whispered something as he died. The Doctor watched, utterly powerless, lip-reading Leonard's last word. _Dorothy_. His wife, back in New York. Now a widow.

The woman spoke again, and rose her finger once again, "_Tooleet chilehsh_."

Hayes' heart almost stopped as Jimmy was hauled out of the line, blood running from the gashes in the side of his face where the club had hit him. His eyes were wide, fear evident on his face. _Why the hell hadn't the boy stayed on the boat?_ Hayes struggled, desperately trying to free himself from the native's grip, wanting nothing else in the world but to save the boy who was, to all intents and purposes, his son. But he couldn't break free.

The natives forced Jimmy to raise his hand, pushing it towards the palm-print on the gift, which would seal his fate. Hayes kicked out, biting hard into the shoulder of one of the natives. The man screeched, and more natives turned instantly and dived at Hayes, ending any chance he had of escaping. Jimmy's hand made contact with the cool metal side of the gift, and they waited.

Nothing.

The natives began to drag Jimmy towards the stone, pulling him away from the device.

And the second his hand left its side, it came to life.

The sides seemed to glow dully, a compartment opening in the side above the hand-print and extruding a cone of concertinaed metal, bending to Jimmy's head height. At the same moment, two cylinders slid out of the gift's casing on either side of the palm-print. The upper two feet of the pyramid swung open, allowing a plinth to rise from the top.

Once the transformation was complete, the glow subsided, and everyone fell silent.

Then the woman spoke, her voice trembling with awe, "_Khrehzithahthtee b'kehn ehlonijtahgahmehm, tsahn botaigahn shehm, b'fahsee_." Then she turned, and left the plaza. The natives began to drag the sailors off the plaza, Jimmy and Ann in one direction, the rest in the other. Hayes struggled to free himself, kicking and biting, only for something heavy to hit the back of his head, and everything to go black.

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Englehorn jumped as he heard the roar explode out from the island's shore, the sound waves even causing the ship to vibrate. He ran out of the wheelhouse, staring at the island, like everyone else in his crew. The Doctor and Miss Brown were out there, and so was Mr Hayes, and so was Jimmy (he hadn't been able to find the boy after Hayes had gone, so he had assumed Jimmy had gone with Hayes), and so were some of his crew – Lumpy, Choy, Sam Griffin. What had they gotten into?

"Captain?" said a voice. He turned to see Fay, Denham's wardrobe mistress, who had chosen to remain on the ship, walking towards him. She looked pale. "What was that?"

"I have no idea," Englehorn said, turning back to stare at the cliffs.

"Are you just going to leave them to the mercy of whatever that was?" Fay asked, moving to stand beside him. Englehorn blanched, and turned to face her again.

"Of course not," he said, and strode away to the lower decks.

Ten minutes later, sailors were armed and ready to go ashore, when McGann, the oldest sailor aboard, shouted in panic. Englehorn charged to McGann's side, and was horrified to see a shield of light forming around his ship, rising out of the water to encompass the entire vessel, and the rock it was fused to. It happened seconds after Jimmy activated the Gift of the Gods.

Now there was a barrier of translucent light between the _Venture _and the island. Two boats were sent down, but they bumped up against the shield, not passing through. Englehorn lifted his pistol and fired three shots at the shield, and stopped. The bullets dropped off the shield, landing in the water with little plops.

They were trapped, unable to rescue the others.


	10. Sacrifice

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) Hello again, and welcome to the tenth chapter of my story. And now things are really starting to kick off. Strange technology in the village, which can only be used by one person, the _Venture_ stuck in a containment field, how are they going to escape? Who knows - I'm too busy to worry about it right now, as the builders are coming round to do my extension and need to knock through my bedroom. And a Vampyr has ordered me to make lots of notes by next week, and there's a report that needs to be written out as well. So right now, I'll have to plough straight on with the story. Fasten your acceleration straps, and arrange your legs, tentacles or pseudopodia in the upright position – the bumpy ride is just beginning! (_END NOTE, SOMEWHAT ODDLY_)

CHAPTER TEN

"Mr Hayes? Mr Hayes?"

Hayes groaned as the voice floated into his consciousness, and shapes began to blur into existence around him. He groaned again as Lumpy's face swam into view above him.

"Take it easy," the chef said, pouring a little water into Hayes' mouth from a flask.

It was a few minutes before Hayes could sit up, and he found they were all locked in a bamboo cage inside one of the pyramids.

"Where's Jimmy?" he whispered.

"Elsewhere, I'm afraid," the Doctor said, kneeling next to Hayes, "And I can tell you're angry with him, despite the fact that what happened might just have saved our lives."

"It didn't save Sam," Hayes said.

"Unfortunately," the Doctor replied, sadness filtering into his eyes, "We can't save everyone."

Something about the way he said it made Hayes stop, made him unable to question it. He just sighed, and rested his back on the cage bars, "Is there any way we can get out of here and find Jimmy?" he asked.

"And Ann," Jack added.

"Of course," the Doctor said, "When we get out of here we should try to find both of them, and maybe find out what's so special about Jimmy that lets him switch on that device."

"I'm afraid this talk is all academic until we actually get out," Bruce said, "Assuming we_ can_ actually get out."

"Don't you worry," the Doctor assured him, I've got Peri working on something right now."

"Have you indeed?" Bruce said, turning to see Peri and Preston crouched at the other end of the cage, holding a device by the bamboo. It was emitting a beam of light, which was burning through bamboo at a painfully slow rate.

"What is that thing?" Denham asked.

"A laser scalpel," the Doctor said, looking quite pleased with himself, "Every home should have one. Or will have one," he added.

"How'd you get that in here?" Lumpy asked, "They took my guns."

"Well, luckily for us the native peoples have no concept of pockets," the Doctor said with a smile.

Hayes groaned as pain thudded inside his head, "How long was I out?" he asked.

"Hard to tell," Jack said, "They knocked us out as well, but you were out longest."

"So they could have already sacrificed Jimmy or something?" Hayes asked, rubbing his temples.

"Not sure," the Doctor replied, "but-"

He was interrupted by the sound of drums from outside the pyramid. Evidently, some form of ceremony was about to take place.

"Oh dear," the Doctor said.

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Ann was dragged along the stone streets by two burly native men, through a path between two lines of native warriors chanting, waving weapons, and behind them was perhaps every native on the island. Above them, a drumming boomed out across the island, making itself heard even above the sound of the wind, pouring rain and thunder of the night storm.

"_KONG! KONG! KONG!_" the natives chanted as Ann was dragged onto the plaza, to the altar stone where the Gift had been earlier that day. The Gift had been removed, and standing by the altar was the old woman, accompanied by a group of other native women, clad in ceremonial garb of bones, hair and a few rags. The girl was there too, wailing with the rest of them.

Ann was forced to her knees before the old woman, who began to chant in her language, as the other women moved to surround her, wailing, shaking their bodies to make the bones in their clothing rattle. The light of the torches reflected off the water on their skin, making the old hag's red eyes seem to glow. Ann looked around, and realised that the other women around her all had white eyes, devoid of iris or pupil. The hag's chants rose, her thin voice high above the storm in drug-induced euphoria.

Something splattered Ann's face, stinging and reeking of rotting flesh. Ann glanced away from the hag, and her gaze fell upon another woman. She was completely naked, her body covered in bamboo piercings and scars. She was wailing, and holding a bone knife, which she would strike herself with, and allow the blood to run. A child scurried around her, splashing some form of liquid onto the woman's wounds.

Then the hag placed a hand on Ann's head, screaming something aloud. Then the men dragged Ann to her feet, pulling her towards the steps leading to the top of the wall, whilst the hag screamed to the crowd.

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Peri pushed the laser scalpel in close, the beam slicing through the last of the bamboo poles.

"Okay," she called to the others, "Time to get out of this place."

Carefully, everyone climbed trough the hole she and Preston had cut in the cage, the Doctor coming last to help Hayes, who was moving a little awkwardly. Lumpy took care of the guard, moving with surprising stealth and knocking the guard out cold. This was easier because the guard was staring towards the plaza, rapt with delight like all the others, although Lumpy failed to recognise the significance of it.

They found their equipment in the ziggurat opposite them, and, suitably re-armed, they set off in search of Ann and Jimmy.

They reached the central plaza to see all the natives clustered around the altar, where the old woman was standing. She was holding a pot out to a number of warriors, allowing them to slit their wrists as they passed, letting a few drops of blood fall into the pot.

"Is Ann there?" Jack hissed from his hiding place, to the Doctor, who had a clear view.

"No," the Doctor whispered back, "and neither is Jimmy, or the Gift."

"Why don't we just shoot them all?" Lumpy said, sliding back the bolt on his rifle to check the chambered round.

"You remember how easily they took us down the last time?" Peri muttered.

"And besides," the Doctor said, "It'll be safer if we wait until we've got Ann and Jimmy back, then make a quiet exit."

"It'll be easier if we just kill them," Lumpy said, pressing his point.

"This is their way of life," the Doctor hissed, anger flashing across his features which made Lumpy quail before him, "They know no better. And their deaths would be needless. They're all distracted, so we can get what we want without harming them!"

The Doctor returned his gaze to the old woman, who blessed the full pot of blood with a few wailed words. Then she raised a finger and hissed something, sending a young warrior scurrying off down a side-street.

"Come on," the Doctor whispered, moving to follow the young warrior, "She could be sending for Jimmy and Ann."

Hayes ordered the sailors to stay here, and to use force on the natives only if completely necessary, and followed the Doctor, Peri and Jack. Meanwhile, the old sha-woman stood and, supported by the girl who had bitten Denham, climbed the stairs to the top of the Wall.

Peri followed the young warrior to a ziggurat close to the plaza, where the warrior entered. She, Hayes and the Doctor followed him in, where Hayes charged him, sending him flying against the wall. He slid to the floor, blood running from his head. The Doctor checked him, before pronouncing "Unconscious, mild concussion. He'll be fine, but will sleep for a few hours." He stood up, and moved to a door composed of bamboo and tied together with human hair, which evidently sealed some sort of inner sanctum.

The Doctor pulled the door open, and stepped through, followed by the others. Jimmy was sitting on the floor, his back resting against a stone pillar, his wrists tied together on its opposite side. His head hung down over his chest, unconscious. The blood had been washed from his face, leaving three jagged lines in his cheek. He was shirtless, and more lines had been cut in his flesh, extending the scar on his shoulder into a complex glyph. Hayes went straight to the boy, and began gently tapping his cheek to try and wake him up.

The Doctor picked up a knife, which had some dry blood on the blade, and noticed that there was a second bamboo door in the wall. He pushed open the door and found himself staring at the Gift.

He approached it, and spent a few minutes examining it whilst Hayes and Peri helped Jimmy regain consciousness.

"Mr Hayes…" Jimmy croaked as awareness returned.

"It's okay, boy," Hayes said, relieved.

"I'm sorry," Jimmy whispered, "About coming here, when you told me not to."

"Hey," Hayes, said, "If you hadn't gotten that thing to work, they'd have killed us all. But for some reason they kept us alive," he paused, "Just don't make me regret it."

"What was that thing anyway?" Jimmy asked, trying to stand up.

"I'm not sure," the Doctor said, exiting the inner sanctum, "But I think I may have seen something like it before, if only I could remember precisely where…"

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The top of the Wall, out of range of the sailors or Denham's camera below, was twenty feet wide, lined with bamboo spikes. Positioned on the walkway over the gate was a stone altar, positioned between two upright hollow logs of a species that would make botanists (like Peri) drool with fascination. Protruding from the logs were several platforms, upon which stood native men, beating the logs with bones as if to summon something from the deep forest beyond the ancient stone ramparts.

There was a bamboo platform over the gate, facing the forest, with two channels cut into it over a sheer hundred-foot drop. Rising from these channels were two pillars, to which Ann's wrists had been tied.

Once she was secured, two native men had ripped at her clothes, until all she was wearing was her slip. The old woman, a mere silhouette in the light of the fires fuelled by some kind of oil, lifted a hideous necklace of small skulls and sharpened rib bones bound together with human hair, and forced it over her head, the sharp ends scratching against her neck.

She stepped back, and cried out in her harsh voice. Then Ann felt the pillars jerk, and begin to slide through the channels, dragging her with them. She struggled to resist their pull, but it was fruitless, and they dragged her to the edge of the platform, and over, into the air.

She was suspended above a deep chasm on the direct opposite side of the Wall, hanging from the end of a drawbridge, descending towards a small rock promontory directly opposite the gate. Pain stabbed in her shoulders, but she gritted her teeth, forcing herself to bear it. After what seemed like forever, she landed on the promontory, and the native chant abruptly ceased.

About two hundred metres from Ann, directly towards the sea, having no idea she was there, the sailors glanced at each other, uneasily.

Ann struggled, trying to pull herself from the vines binding her to the bridge. The tight bonds, secured using a complex series of knots around two bamboo rods, one in each binding, had no give in them whatsoever. She shivered, standing on the promontory, a lone figure, illuminated by the fires on the Wall, which was just visible in the smog from the oil fires at its base.

Then there was a loud thump from deep within the jungle in front of Ann, followed by a deep, harsh grunting as something moved in the fog. Coming closer. Coming for her.

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) I am sorry to say that this isn't the best cliff-hanger I've ever written, as you can probably guess a) who's going to show up in the next chapter, and b) what's going to happen to Ann. Nonetheless, I may have problems with updating over the next month or so, as my free time is going to be drastically cut short. Whether or not I spend that free time writing stories, or searching for a new betareader for _Jumper: Continuum_, or just doing random non-writing things can be worked out with the following formula: R +tF=M=U; Where is many/much, R is reviews, tF is free time, M is motivation, and U is updates. See you later, when I've sorted out the precise details of the plot… Ciao! (_END NOTE_)


	11. The Creature

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) Hello, people. Here is the next chapter, all shining new. Written over Easter, I have tried to get this out to you before my workload piles up at an alarming rate, which it has started to do. So enjoy this – you may not see an update for a while, as my free time will be hard to come by. Of course, reviews will encourage me to write more… (_END NOTE_)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Something loomed through the fog, tinged oily yellow from the flaming pools. A gigantic black shape, growing with every passing second. Ann stared up at it, unable to escape her bonds, at the mercy of whatever this creature was. Then she saw it, as, the fog swirling around its feet, it stepped into view. Right in front of her.

Slowly, Ann lifted her head, realising that the native chants had ceased. Then she saw the creature worshipped by the islanders, their God incarnate, the one to whom they bowed down each and every day, the one to whom they gave flesh and blood. A gigantic gorilla, at least twenty feet, towered over her, staring down at the sacrificial victim before him. Gingerly, he raised one of his hands, pushing a large, black-skinned finger towards Ann. She leaned back, fear in her eyes, and struggling against the ropes, as the gorilla's finger lightly touched her blonde hair.

"_KONG!_" One almighty shout rose from the top of the Wall, and the gorilla looked up, face twisting at the sight of his subjects. He snarled, glancing back down to Ann, and with a practiced ease, reached out to the knotted vine ropes and snapped the bamboo rods at the centre of each knot. The knots collapsed, loosening the hold on Ann's wrists. Her hands fell to her sides, and she staggered forwards, right into the gorilla's hand. She screamed as the fingers closed round her.

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The Doctor and Hayes led the way back towards the plaza, Jimmy and Peri in tow. Peri occasionally sent a sideways glance in Jimmy's direction, often centred on his bare chest. Well, what was a girl supposed to do when most of the attractive men she'd met on her travels were either dead or were obsessed with something? Jimmy was a nice kid, and years on the ship had given him a lean physique with just the right amount of muscle. Now all he needed was a great taste in cars and music and he'd be perfect. Not that he could drive, or got the chance to listen to a lot of music, and they certainly didn't have pop music in the 1930s.

Peri sighed. A mythical island in the Indian Ocean with murderous indigenous population really wasn't the best place to look at boys. Nonetheless, she should try to get a photograph…

Then Ann's scream rent the air, and everyone froze.

"That came from behind the Wall…" Hayes breathed.

"Yes." The Doctor seized Hayes' gun, and began firing into the air, taking off towards the plaza as he did so.

Jack heard the scream too, and realised where it came from. As the natives scattered at the sound of the gunshots, he leapt from his hiding place, charging towards the steep steps leading to the wall top. Denham followed, heading for the forest of bamboo logs propped up against the gates. He dodged between them, coming to a hole in the metal-clad gate. He peered through, eyes raking the surface of the smog from the oil pools. _There was something there!_ It was gigantic, like a man, and also like a beast. Like both, at the same time. It rose from a crouching position, delicately holding something in its hands, and raised its head, looking towards the Wall, straight at Denham. And it roared.

A deep, primal sound, like thunder from hell itself, splitting the air with ancient fury. Then the creature vanished, melting away into the smog.

Jack staggered onto the bamboo platform, desperately searching for any sign of Ann. He saw nothing.

"Ann!" he yelled, frantic, but the only answers he got were the sound of the jungle over the abyss, and the echo of his own voice.

When he descended, armed sailors were standing around the perimeter of the plaza, and Denham's film crew lugging filming equipment and weapons out of a nearby ziggurat, including Denham's prized camera. Jack slumped, dejected on the central altar, where the Gift had been placed earlier, his head in his hands.

"You find her?" Lumpy rasped, taking the opportunity to light a roll-up.

"She's gone," Jack said, not looking up.

"She's not gone," a voice floated from behind them, "She was taken."

Jack leapt to his feet, spinning to face Denham. The filmmaker was standing in front of the gate, slack-jawed, a haunted look on his face.

"You saw something…" Jack breathed, advancing on Denham, hope lighting in his eyes, "What was it?" Denham stammered something, looking fearful.

"Tell me what you saw!" Jack demanded, getting closer.

Gunshots rang out, and Jack spun round as Hayes, the Doctor, Peri and Jimmy ran onto the plaza, pursued by a horde of armed native warriors. The sailors raised their weapons, but more natives leapt from the roves of the ziggurats, lifting scavenged guns and pulling the triggers.

The attack was so ferocious and sudden, that there would have been no escape, if Jack hadn't been motivated by a desire to recover Ann - the sort of desire only found in the madly in love. He saw no way out, and reacted, diving towards the bamboo logs holding the gate shut. He began dragging them aside as the sailors opened fire on the natives, yelling as he did so.

The Doctor dived in to help, closely followed by Jimmy and Hayes. The natives fell, struck down by gunfire, but each was replaced by another, and another, and another.

Then suddenly, the gates began to swing towards them, pushing the bamboo logs to the floor. Jack dived through, calling out "Come on!"

Nobody needed to be told twice. Jimmy dived after Jack, the Doctor shoving Peri through after the boy, then shepherding the sailors through as they ran for the gates. Denham charged past him, oblivious to anything, his camera clutched to his chest, gibbering slightly. They ran out across the bamboo drawbridge, leaping from strut to strut, not daring to look down. The Doctor turned to see the last sailor, a kid in his early twenties, being pounced upon by a group of natives, and clubbed to the ground. A pool of blood began to form shortly afterwards. The Doctor turned and began to run across the bridge, just as it began to rise.

"Doctor!" Peri yelled on the other side of the cavern, trying to run forwards to help him, but Hayes caught her.

The Doctor forced himself to move faster, although his Time Lord physiology let him run faster than most humans, it was likely he wasn't going to make it. The bridge was four feet above the ledge, and rising. The Doctor charged up the ever increasing angle, then leapt off the end, soaring through the air to roll onto the ledge, safely.

"I didn't think you were gonna make it," Lumpy said, helping the Doctor up.

"Centuries of practice," the Doctor said, "Now shall we get out of here before they start shooting arrows at us?"

A sailor to Jimmy's left staggered forwards, gurgling as the feathered shaft of an arrow appeared in his throat. None needed any encouragement after that.

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The jungle was dark, very dark. It was just possible to discern the outlines of trees and people, mostly because people moved and trees didn't. There were, however, a lot of low shrubs and thorn bushes dotting the uneven terrain. When one sailor became hopelessly entangled with a vine, Peri guessed it was similar to the 'Wait-a-while' creeper – a thorny vine which caught on clothes and equipment, although she couldn't be sure. The way it looked in the light of a torch was unlike any vine she had seen before, so it was probably a new species. Hell, all the trees on this island could have evolved in isolation, so could all be new species.

Hayes called a halt, and broke out a few canteens of water. Then he began to assess his options. First, where were they? Skull Island, but precisely where on Skull Island, he had no idea. Second, what would be the best course of action? Get back to the _Venture_, obviously. But that would necessitate going back through the village. Unless they got to the coast, and sent up a distress flare. Englehorn would send out the other two dinghies to rescue them. That sounded like a plan. Hayes cast a quick glance over his crew, checking who was there. The Doctor, Peri, helping free O'Brien from the thorn bush. Denham's film crew, minus the sound technician and Leonard; there was Lumpy, Choy, Briggs, Wu, Richards, Wood, Brook, Taylor, Cooper, Dawson and Wallace. Apart from Sam Griffin, they were also missing Burridge and Cochrane. Cochrane had been just a kid, little older than Jimmy. Hayes' eyes slid to the boy, noting the scratches on his arms, shoulders and chest from the thorn bushes. He seemed to be holding up okay, unlike a few other sailors, who looked thoroughly spooked. Hayes felt a surge of pride in the fact that Jimmy was holding out. He checked Driscoll, who was looking distant, and then Hayes realised. _Ann Darrow wasn't with them_.

He could tell Ann and Jack were in love – hell, it was obvious to anyone who looked. And although he knew how it felt to lose the one he loved, he could only imagine how it felt to have left her behind.

He was about to walk over to Jack and say something, when they heard it. A scream. Ann's scream.

Jack leapt to his feet, eyes wide. Then he ran in the direction of the scream.

"Jack!" Hayes yelled, charging after him, "Wait up!" Hayes glanced over his shoulder, "Come on, then," he said.

Grumbling, the sailors climbed to their feet and began to jog after him.

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Ann was gripped in the gorilla's fist as it pounded through the jungle, leaping across the ground. She couldn't see anything but a dark green blur; she couldn't hear anything but the crashes of the gorilla and her own heart thumping in her ears. She gulped, feeling bile rise in her throat. Completely disorientated, she hung limply from the creature's fingers, squeezing her eyes shut, just waiting for it to be over. She felt the gorilla leap over another of the vast bottomless chasms, and felt another lurch in her stomach. They hit ground again, and Ann's stomach contracted, vomit spraying onto the ground. The gorilla grunted something, and increased its speed, leaving Ann to groan in its grip.

Then it stopped, but Ann continued to move, the world spinning in her vision, as the gorilla hefted her in front of him, shaking her like a rag doll. He snarled, his face twisting into a grimace. His face was covered in old scars under his fur, with one eyelid mangled and his jaw crooked, causing a yellowed incisor to jut up from his lower gums. He leaned forwards, pressing his gigantic face close to Ann's. She smelt his breath, reeking of decaying plants. She gulped, her terror starting to escape, and she screamed. The scream that Jack heard.

He roared, shaking Ann around. She groaned, shut her eyes, but still felt as if the world was hurtling around her head. If she had anything left in her stomach, the gorilla might get a bit of a shock. The gorilla snarled in frustration, hurling Ann into the air and catching her, upside down. Ann moaned, feeling the bone necklace slide up her neck, the sharp bones scratching her flesh. But she didn't notice it. Her swirling vision was focused on the ground, which was littered with a carpet of bones. Recognisable as human. Ann swallowed, as every single skeleton wore a necklace of sharp bone, like hers.

Sacrificial victims. All dead. All killed. By the gorilla. Pulled limb from limb whilst they were still living, then left to die when they ceased amusing the gorilla.

Ann felt herself hoisted up, to face the gorilla's upside-down face, his lips curled in a low snarl. Desperation began to overtake Ann's dizzy fear, she desperately searched for a weapon, something to use against this gigantic creature. There was nothing. And besides, she was in his hand – if she tried anything, he could easily crush her in the same way she might crush an ant. So she had to get out of his hand, and find somewhere he couldn't follow her.

Gunfire. The rat-a-tat-tat of Thompson sub-machineguns echoed around the valley, clearly being fired some way off. Ann's heart leapt. Jack! He was coming for her! (Although she would have preferred him to arrive _before_ she had been sacrificed).

And, crucially, it distracted the gorilla for just a second. And Ann took that second. She grabbed the bone necklace and rammed the sharp point into the gorilla's hand.

The gorilla roared, his hand snapping open on reflex, dropping Ann twelve feet straight down. She landed heavily, staggering to her feet. She began to run towards the trees, ignoring pain in her feet and legs. The natives had taken most of her clothes, leaving her with only her underslip, and running across broken bones in bare feet was quite painful.

The gorilla snarled, spinning at the loss of his gift from the natives. He lunged after Ann, swinging his hand down to sweep her up and into his hand again. Ann screamed as he caught hold of her, and charging into the jungle, leaving her necklace where she had dropped it on the ground, its hair bindings broken.

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) Chapter twelve will be coming soon, because I managed to get that finished off over Easter as well. I need hardly remind you that reviews of this story will encourage me to write more chapters in my free time, so please R&R. Additionally, I desire to place an advert: I am concurrently writing a story titled _Jumper: Continuum_, of which 3 chapters are up. But my betareader has had to stop due to a mounting workload, so I am looking for someone willing to take up that mantle. Contact me if you want to answer that plea, and remember to review! (_END NOTE_)


	12. Beyond the Wall

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) So, in between waiting for the skybox to record some nice sci-fi; groaning about the wait for Matthew Reilly's next book (I have to wait until October for the resolution of a cliff-hanger); cursing the Vampyr who hands out essays in the same way that Santa hands out toys, I come to adding this next chapter to my story. It's certainly fun to write, and I am hoping you're enjoying it too… (but how can I know if you won't tell me? Feedback is highly valued. Never underestimate the encouragement you can give to a writer). By the way, I have something to say to bluedragon1836, and it's this: 'Yes, yes, very funny. I should have realised someone would do that. Nonetheless, it had been a bad day and it did cheer me up a bit. Ta :). (_END NOTE_)

CHAPTER TWELVE

The whole world was moving, swirling around Ann's head for the second time that night. With no escape, no hope except her distant lover, Ann's brain finally gave up. She lost consciousness, and the gorilla, Kong as the islanders knew him, continued to run, his prize in his grip.

Far away, Jack heard Ann scream, and began to charge towards it, yelling her name. Roars of the creature that had taken her split the night, but Jack didn't care what it was. He was going to get her back, and nothing was going to stop him.

Then he tripped, slamming into the ground. He struggled to his feet, and was about to run on when the Doctor stepped in front of him.

"You need to rest," he said firmly.

"Out of my way!" Jack snapped, pushing past.

The next thing he knew he was flat on his back, winded.

"I'm not in the mood for anyone running off and getting themselves killed," the Doctor said, a cold fire in his eyes, despite his calm exterior, "Jack, remember that nobody here wants to leave Ann behind." There were grunts of assent from amongst the sailors, in between breathing heavily. Lumpy was leaning on Choy, hacking coughs exploding from his mouth.

"But if we just charge after her, we could lose ourselves and never find her. Also, that creature is likely to be very large and capable of moving much faster than us. I would also bet it's capable of killing us all. We have no knowledge of the terrain, or what else could be lurking here."

"How're we gonna find her if we don't catch up with her now?" Jack snarled, "That creature could take her anywhere!"

"The _Venture_ transports animals;" the Doctor said shortly, "Therefore, its crew are likely to be skilled animal trackers. Something as big as Mr Denham said it was shouldn't be too hard to find."

"He told you what he saw?" Jack said, surprised.

"Well, no," the Doctor admitted, "He said 'big' when I asked. And, to get back to your original question, I might have a little something in my pockets that can help… I think."

"Like what?"

"Depends on what's in them."

Gunfire rang out as a jumpy sailor began blasting away at something in the undergrowth, signalling a few others to open fire as well.

"Stop!" Hayes bellowed, walking over to them, "Conserve your ammunition!"

Slowly, the gunfire ceased, and the Doctor glanced over to where they had been firing. His ears were just picking up a thumping sound, which sounded like something very big coming towards them. He glanced round quickly, and saw Jimmy handing Peri a water canteen.

With a splintering crash, it burst from the undergrowth and charged towards the group. It was huge, at least twelve feet long and about four feet wide. It moved awkwardly on four legs like small tree trunks, lifting its horned head and bellowing as the sailors dived for cover.

"What _the fuck _is that?" Jimmy gasped, glancing up from behind the log he had jumped behind. He whipped his head down quickly, as the creature's tail swung through where it had been seconds before.

"A dinosaur," Peri said, kneeling next to him, "And yes, they are supposed to be extinct."

Sailors dived this way and that, struggling to get out of the way of the raging dinosaur, but it spun constantly, slamming its frilled head into anything that moved. Preston leapt to one side, but his foot caught on a root, sending him plummeting to the ground. He rolled, desperately trying to avoid the dinosaur's massive feet, slamming down as it never stopped moving.

Jack dived forwards, seizing Preston's shoulders and dragging him free, only for the dinosaur's tail to send him flying. He slammed into a tree, sliding to the ground, winded for the second time.

The creature spun, grunting, slamming its head into the log Jimmy and Peri were hiding behind.

"Come on," Jimmy hissed, trying to shift to another hiding place, Peri following him. They stood up – and found themselves staring into the dinosaur's eyes.

"Shit," Jimmy said, then began pushing Peri back.

It growled, starting to charge towards them – and the Doctor leapt into its path, holding aloft something on a string, something shiny. And he began to sing.

"_Kakleedenam inmenin klatch, naroo naroo naroon,_"

The creature slowed, stopping right in front of the Doctor, its head swinging back and forth, tracking the movement of the object. The Doctor stopped singing, and the creature remained silent, pacified.

"There, there," the Doctor said soothingly, "There's nothing to be scared of."

The sailors looked on in wonder, as Peri cautiously approached the dinosaur. It was huge, looking very like a triceratops, only without the large horns, and in the dark its skin seemed to be coloured dark green.

"Music calms the savage beast," the Doctor said as Peri stood next to him, "Aggedor was quite fond of that lullaby, you know."

"Aggedor? From Peladon?"

"The very same."

"Erm," Jimmy stopped next to the Doctor, staring in wonder at the creature.

"Ceratopsian dinosaur," the Doctor explained as more sailors emerged from their hiding places, staring. Denham's camera was already rolling. Carefully, Jimmy reached out; gently laying his hand on the creature's snout, as if to confirm what he was seeing was real.

The creature paused for a moment, then pushed forwards, nuzzling Jimmy's chest.

"I think he likes you," the Doctor smiled.

"Aren't these things supposed to be extinct?" Lumpy grumbled, rubbing his side where the dinosaur's tail had hit him.

"They are," the Doctor confirmed, "But let's be honest, stranger things have happened."

"Like Lily Allen getting a hit?" Peri said.

"Er, yes…" the Doctor said after a pause, then he gently tapped the dinosaur on the snout, and it turned, ambling off between the trees, much calmer now.

"Now," the Doctor said, as if nothing had happened, "Shall we get back to finding Miss Darrow?"

A few sailors mumbled something, but began moving again. The Doctor paused by Hayes, handing him the wedding ring on a leather string. The Chief Mate slipped it around his neck and under his shirt.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" he asked, looking at the Doctor with new respect.

"The Venusians like their lullabies," the Doctor said, mysteriously, "As does the Royal Beast of Peladon."

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It happened later that night, as the sailors were pressing on through the jungle.

Back at the village they had left behind, a circular carving in the floor before the great gates activated. Six metal rings whirred as they rose from their cavity beneath the carving, forming a tube just above the ground. There was a single flash of light from within the tube, and the rings floated back into their cavity. And standing in their place was a woman.

She was one of the islanders, wearing a long dress woven from bamboo cloth, bedecked with gold – necklaces, bracelets and an ornate headdress. It would be easy to mistake her for a civilised woman from the West, but that would be a very big mistake.

Slowly, natives emerged from the ziggurats, heads bowed in reverence. The woman regarded them with contempt.

"_Dohahrtenen gah dofolesen kheveelaioy b'koozah?_" the woman snapped. When she spoke, it sounded like two voices speaking at once. One was the voice of a Sumatran woman, who had vanished centuries before, and layered on top of that was the second voice – a deep, echoing sound that seemed unnatural coming from this woman.

Nervously, the old woman who had sacrificed Ann spoke up in her high, quavering voice, "_Gætah chilesh brevog wotsah okh r'ahchah te ah sev mot_-"

"_Rekortee_!" the woman snapped, anger flaring within her. She glared at the quivering sha-woman, and for an instant, her eyes glowed with an unearthly light.

She raised her right arm, lifting her palm to face the sha-woman. On her hand was a golden glove made of ribbons of gold stretching over her fingers. Set into the palm of the glove was a large orange gemstone, which was now glowing with a fiery light. The air seemed to ripple as the gemstone sent a wave of kinetic energy blasting towards the sha-woman. She cried out as she was hurled backwards, all the way across the plaza, until she slammed into one of the ziggurats. The sound of her spine snapping echoed across the plaza.

The woman lowered her hand, the glow in the gemstone subsiding. She reached for the back of her hand, where several buttons were set into the surface of the golden glove. The Ring Transmat responded instantly, the rings rising to encompass her form. The light shone out as she was broken down into her constituent molecules, then the rings descended, at the same time transmitting a matter stream to another part of the island, where she was reassembled in another Ring Transmat. And she was very angry.

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Englehorn groaned. The shield surrounding the _Venture _was pretty much impenetrable. It stopped bullets from every gun they had, even the rocket launcher he'd kept as a memento from the Great War. It stopped grenades, and there were no caves or holes in the rock they could go through. They were well and truly trapped.

Many of the sailors were getting nervous, scared of some non-existent sea demon. Englehorn didn't believe in anything like that, but after what the Doctor had showed him, he didn't know what was possible any more.

His gaze turned to the rugged, mountainous terrain of Skull Island. Whatever this was, it had something to do with that island. The nexus point… He'd have to trust the Doctor. The Doctor had said he needed to stop the nexus point doing whatever it did. And now the _Venture _was trapped, he would have to do it, or be trapped on the island-

Englehorn stopped, squinting at the shield. Was it just him, or was the distortion of the air getting brighter?

Light flared all around the ship, as if the _Venture _were stuck in a glowing fog. Englehorn shut his eyes, expecting to be dazzled, only for the light to die away as quickly as it had begun.

They were in complete darkness.

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) And now, we start to see the hallmarks of _Doctor Who_. Someone with technology that's not from around these parts (by which I mean this galaxy). Thanks for reading, and now I have to mourn the loss of the only surviving range of prose fiction about the classic series: the Big Finish Short Trips. BF's short story collections, published alongside their audio dramas of Who, are being replaced with, according to Waterstones' website, a book of short stories aimed at kids aged 5-7. It's probably gonna be a) about the new series, and b) rubbish. It seems the classic Doctors are headed for the TARDIS recycle bin. But should they go down without a fight? (_END NOTE_)


	13. Boneyard

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) Welcome back, to the next episode in the story which people seem to be enjoying, produced in a short hiatus when the builders aren't waking the dead with a drill. (There's dry cement all over my carpet!) And since they need to knock through a wall, which happens to have my computer positioned in front of it, I may have problems with updates in the near future. Then, having no way to exercise my mind (which has been described as 'Terry Prattchett on sleeping pills') except read, and most of my books are boxed up. A relative's Tintin collection is in grave danger. God, I sound like Twitter. Here's the chapter before I start going on about the _Lord of the Rings_ board game… (_END NOTE, QUICKLY)_

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"We know that the dinosaurs died out sixty-five million years ago," the Doctor said, having first explained to Jimmy and several listening sailors what dinosaurs were (prehistoric times weren't seen as important enough for early 20th century curricula), "and that creature we've seen here certainly seems to be a dinosaur."

"What kind?" Peri asked, carefully stepping over a small log in the dawn light, "I mean, it looked like a triceratops, but it certainly wasn't one."

"It was definitely a Ceratopsian," the Doctor agreed, frowning, "but unlike any seen before. Think about it, Peri - a fundamental fact of life that never stops, changing species…"

"Evolution?"

"Exactly."

"I think I read about that," Jimmy said, "they had a newspaper article in the library."

"Very good," the Doctor smiled, pausing to help the boy over down a slight dip in the ground, "This Island must be filled with dinosaurs that have carried on evolving since the rest of them died out."

"Like T-rexes and velociraptors?" Peri asked.

"I do hope not," the Doctor grimaced, "Haven't you seen _Jurassic Park_?"

"Ah."

"What?" Jimmy said.

"Later," the Doctor said, peering thorough the trees to the cliff they were nearing. In the centre of the cliff was the entrance to a gorge, walls stretching perhaps hundreds of feet straight up. The Doctor sniffed experimentally.

"What is it?" Peri asked, recognising the expression on the Time Lord's face.

"Decay, death," the Doctor whispered, his face dark.

His sense of smell was proved correct moments later, when they reached the valley beyond the gorge. The gorge ended as a ledge over a deep chasm, stretching left towards a stone bridge, which led further into the dark jungle. The entire valley was in shadow in the dawn, but there was no mistaking what they were walking over from the loud crunches, and the smell.

"Bloody Nora…" Lumpy breathed, "It's a bleeding boneyard…"

Jack stared at the bones littering the ground in the shadows, horror flowing over his features. All the skeletons were human. Then he spotted something amongst the bleached white. It wasn't as dirty as the rest of the bones, nor was it broken. It was a necklace, like the ones the rest of the skeletons seemed to be wearing. And entangled in the strands of native hair that held it together, was a lock of golden hair. Ann's hair.

He stood up, glancing around the valley, at the eerily silent trees, forming a wall of twisted, gnarled wood around the ledge the group was standing on. There could be anything in that forest.

"Ann?" he called, his voice echoing around the enclosed space.

Jimmy stared around at the skeletons around him, looking curious, and slightly scared. Then he spoke, "None of these are fresh."

"What?" Peri and the Doctor turned to look at him, "I'd have thought that was obvious," Peri said disgustedly, stepping onto a rock to get out of the bones. The trainers she was wearing probably needed washing now.

"We've been to animal kill-sites before," Jimmy said, nervously gripping the rifle in his hands, "and the fresh kills smell different to the long dead."

"Very true," the Doctor mused. He sniffed, knowing his senses were far superior to Jimmy's, and if there were something masking the scent of a dead human, he'd pick it out. But there was nothing.

"You okay, Jimmy?" Hayes asked, stopping next to the boy.

"Fine, Mr Hayes," Jimmy replied immediately.

Hayes turned to him, eyes lingering on the complex glyph drawn in cuts around the scar on Jimmy's bare shoulder. He lifted his face to Jimmy's.

"Look," he said, "I'm going to send Wood and Richards back to send up a flare and contact the Captain. I want you to go with them."

Jimmy paused for a moment, then said "I want to help find Miss Darrow," he said, a grim determination coming over his face.

"Look, it's not safe," Hayes said, starting to get annoyed, "You'll be better off back on the ship."

"Er, Mr Hayes," the Doctor said, "I have a feeling that sending Jimmy back would be unwise."

"And what makes you think that?" Hayes snapped, aggressively rounding on the Doctor, who remained totally unfazed.

"The device he activated in the village could have counterparts elsewhere on this island, which could help us to find out exactly what's going on here."

"You mean you want to find out what's going on," Hayes interjected angrily.

"Or could help us to find Ann," the Doctor finished, ignoring Hayes' outburst. But this got Jack's attention.

"Don't you say anything," Hayes snapped at him and turned back to the Doctor, "I don't know who you think you are. You come in all clever and superior and expect to have the run of things just because you have a flashy degree from Harvard or wherever you went -"

"Gallifrey," the Doctor prompted.

"Wherever, but Jimmy is under my command, and I am sending him back to safety."

Hayes stopped speaking and glared at the other sailors, as if daring them to question him.

"I just want to help bring her back," Jimmy said quietly, deflating slightly, looking crestfallen.

Hayes sighed. That was exactly how he felt. Miss Darrow was a wonderful person, and he could see why Jack was in love with her. She had made an effort to befriend all the sailors, but she had clicked especially well with Jimmy. Perhaps because they were both good at similar things – Ann had even remarked that Jimmy would be good at Vaudeville.

Hayes sighed again, "Alright," he said, "Just don't make me regret it." He turned to the Doctor, apologetic, "Look after the kid, will you?"

"I'll do my best," the Doctor said, smiling kindly.

"Okay," Hayes said, raising his voice, "Wood, Richards, I want you to go to the coast and send up a distress flare or two. When the Captain finds you, tell him what's happened and that we'll be looking for Miss Darrow."

"Sir," Wood said. He took the flares Hayes offered, then led Richards through the gorge leading back the way they came.

After a quick search of the area had revealed no sign of Ann other than the hair in the necklace, the group headed further into the jungle through a gorge in the opposite side of the valley. They travelled onwards for several hours, not talking much. All around them strange cries and roars echoed around the island. It only served to make the already steamy, humid jungle even more oppressive. Here they were, in the middle of the unknown, with almost nothing in their defence.

They passed massive trees, at which Peri gawped in wonder. This island was like a zoologist's dream – dinosaurs, completely new species of plants. There were deep chasms in the rock, sometimes crossed by rock bridges, which the Doctor noticed were intricately carved with glyphs similar to the one on Jimmy's shoulder. The boy glanced down one of the cracks, and promptly jumped back, having glimpsed something moving in the depths. They climbed ridges and hills, and crossed streams, all the while feeling more and more lost. They had long ago lost the trail of the creature that had taken Ann, and Denham hadn't exactly given them the description they'd hoped for.

They moved into a deep valley, passing many pools and water-holes. They became surrounded by insects the size of tennis balls, their sharp mouth parts clearly visible as their iridescent wings shone in the green-tinged light shining through the massive trees. Everyone was slapping at the creatures with as much force as they could, Lumpy laying about with his frying pan, and Peri was glad she'd chosen to wear trousers when she came to the island, rather than a skirt or dress. Jimmy was having quite a hard time with it, as he had more skin exposed than the others. Fresh streams of blood dribbled down his back where he'd knocked an insect off just as it had began feeding. The Doctor, who seemed to be being ignored by the insects, was digging round in his pocket. Peri had often wondered if the Doctor's pockets were like the TARDIS – bigger on the inside, but whenever she'd asked, he'd gone all vague.

The Doctor finally pulled a bottle from his pocket and sniffed the contents. He nodded, and handed it to Jimmy.

"Try that," he said, then added "Lexium oxide, a chemical similar to water, but insects all over the universe hate it."

Jimmy did so, rubbing the liquid into his face and torso, before passing it to the other sailors. Peri smiled to herself. The liquid shone on Jimmy's skin, making him look a bit like the bodybuilders her half-brother had looked at in magazines, only more attractive.

The group carried on, Jack and Hayes quietly talking about the Great War, and where each had served. They eventually came to a large cliff, where a narrow gorge led through it, descending steeply.

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Englehorn swore loudly. The dark area where the _Venture _was now moored was illuminated by the ship's spotlights, the beams piercing the dark. They were in a water-filled cavern, with no visible way out. How the hell had they got here? How the hell were they going to get out?

The Doctor had been right. There was definitely something going on in this place. Something evil. The feeling had been gnawing in his gut for a long time, but now it manifested in his brain. He sighed, slumped at the table in his cabin.

He wondered what his crew were thinking. He was the goddamn captain. Always the one who would get them out of trouble, keep their jobs open and money in their hands. And here he was, skulking in his cabin, doing nothing to get them out of this mess. But could he get them out?

Englehorn sighed. As much as he hated the idea, he'd have to rely on someone else to get them out. The Doctor. After what he'd shown them in his blue box… his blue box.

Perhaps there was a way out of this after all…

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) Will Englehorn escape his rather dark predicament? Will the mystery of the Gift of the Gods, which everyone seems to have forgotten about, be solved? Will Jack rescue Ann, or will Kong use her as a Barbie doll first? Will the Doctor find the nexus point before whatever caused it finds him? And will Peri pay more attention to Jimmy's chest, or where she's putting her feet? Find out in the free upgrade which forms the next chapter. Coming soon to a computer near you. (_END NOTE_)


	14. The Canyon

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) I seem to be getting more moments of inspiration per day than JK Rowling. I suppose there wasn't much to do, except be inspired, as my computer recently died, and I had nothing to read except revision guides, most of the Tintin books and a complex Stargate Atlantis novel. So naturally I opted for inspiration, and have since worked out the premise of roughly five more stories and precisely how this story should end. But I'm not giving any hints, aside from those in the text. So see what you can glean from my latest offering. Enjoy… (_END NOTE_)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The group emerged into a deep ravine, the sun shining down directly overhead. The rocky walls stretched away in either direction, uneven, vines covering ancient carvings.

Lumpy was breathing heavily, and sat down hard on a rock, hacking coughs making his entire body shudder.

"Christ," he gasped between coughs, "I need a breather!"

Choy produced a rollup cigarette from his pack and handed it to his friend, who took several long drags as the coughs subsided, unaware his life expectancy had just been reduced by six minutes.

"Come on," Jack said, grabbing Lumpy and trying to haul him to his feet, as the sailors around them variously sat or leaned against the walls, "We don't have time for this!"

"They're not about to quit on you," Hayes said quietly, "Cut 'em some slack," Jack sighed, and nodded. Hayes turned back to the sailors, "Alright, five minutes rest," he called.

Denham grabbed his camera from Herb.

"C'mon," he said, "I want a wide shot of the valley." He began leading the way up the gorge, followed by Herb and Bruce Baxter, describing how this film would make them all rich.

"Think about it, an undiscovered island of dinosaurs and a lost civilisation – what more could you want? We've even got Billy with his shirt off, just for the ladies."

Nobody paid any attention to them going, as the sailors gratefully collapsed, sitting, leaning or just standing around, breathing heavily. The Doctor and Peri settled close to one wall, peering at some of the carvings on a projecting ledge. Idly, Jimmy wandered over to them, rifle hanging from the strap around his neck. Peri ignored the sweat shining on his lean muscles, absorbed in the pictograms carved into the wall. The Doctor was carefully pulling creepers away from a number of blocks set into the ledge. Each block varied in height, and each was covered in the same glyphs as they had seen in the village.

"Some sort of control panel?" Peri suggested.

"Possibly," the Doctor mused, "I've seen one of these before, on Alderaan Theta. The Daleks were trying to gain control of the planet's superweapon, but couldn't. Plungers really weren't good at adjusting the heights of these blocks…"

Experimentally, he pressed down on one of the blocks. It didn't budge. "Oh, well," the Doctor sighed, "Worth a try."

"Should I…" Jimmy said, stepping in close to the ledge, and reaching out a hand to touch the block.

"Careful," Peri warned, and Jimmy's hand hesitated in mid-air.

"Bloody Nora!" Lumpy's voice caused them to all look round, seeing the chef standing next to a gigantic footprint in the mud where soil had collected in a depression in the ground.

"Christ," Hayes whispered, staring at the footprint.

"There's only one creature capable of making a footprint that size," Lumpy stammered. All eyes turned towards him, "The Abominable Snowman!" he finished.

Fear rippled among the sailors.

"Actually the Abominable Snowman is a lot smaller," the Doctor said as he pushed through, "This thing must be at least twenty feet tall."

"Carl knows, he saw it," Jack said, standing from where he was kneeling by the print, "Let's ask him."

"Denham," Hayes called. There was no answer. "Where'd he go?" the chief mate demanded.

"Doctor," Peri called, "You should see this."

Hayes followed the Doctor towards the ledge, where the cracks between the blocks were glowing blue, as was the text on them.

"Christ," Hayes said.

"It switched itself on just now," Peri said.

"Yeah," Jimmy agreed. He reached out to touch the block, gently laying his hand on the stone and pushing. The block complied, sliding downwards in response to the pressure of Jimmy's hand. At the same time, other blocks slid down, and more still slid upwards, all responding to the movement of one. Hayes tried the same, and received the same response.  
"Jimmy, would you be so kind as to go over there?" the Doctor asked.

The boy complied, unsure of why. It became obvious when he was halfway across the gorge, and the light on the blocks died, and they became unresponsive. On the Doctor's instructions, Jimmy approached again, and a few minutes later the blocks lit up again.

"It's something to do with you," Peri said, understanding, "No one else can switch this on."

Since Peri's call, everyone had clustered close to the ledge to see what was happening, and all had been in range of whatever field the machine used to detect Jimmy.

"A genetic thing?" Peri suggested to the Doctor, "Or psychically?"

"What?" Jimmy said, joining the collective bemused frown.

Then the Doctor frowned.

"Can anyone else hear an aeroplane?"

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Carl Denham froze when he turned the corner in the gorge. He immediately set down his camera and began filming, a grin spreading over his face. He began muttering with glee, switching between voices as he did so.

"Oh, I'm a big dumb investor," he giggled, "'you're crazy, Denham. There's no hidden island, no lost civilisation. No – don't make us laugh,'" he switched back to his normal voice as he cranked the camera, "Well who's laughing now?"

Bruce and Herb arrived behind him, and gaped. The gorge emerged into a larger valley, flanked by massive ruins and trees. And standing incongruously in the centre of the valley, grazing from the trees, was a herd of dinosaurs. The creatures were gigantic, their squat bodies resting on four tree-trunk legs, their long necks and small heads balanced by equally long tails, their grey skin shining in the sunlight. Jackpot.

"Okay, Bruce," Denham said, "Move forward."

"_What?_" Bruce demanded, eyes wide, close to panic.

"You're the star of this picture. Get into character and head towards the animals."

Bruce cursed, but struck a heroic pose, gun held up, and shuffled into the camera's field of view.

"What the hell kind of a place is this?" he muttered.

Slowly, he inched forwards, unaware that what approximated to a sixteen-foot long velociraptor (or rather a pack of them, with unearthly lumps of metal grafted professionally onto their cerebral cortexes) happened to be stalking the dinosaurs, more by design than accident. Someone else's design.

"I wonder what kind they are, exactly," Herb said, clicking his camera. The photos would make nice mementos to show his niece.

Bruce froze as the dinosaurs shifted, trumpeting loudly. A few of the creatures lifted their heads, glancing about them.

"You're making them nervous," Denham called, "No sudden movements!"

"I'm not moving!" Bruce hissed back.

"Keep your voice down, sir," Herb said to Denham, wiping sweat from his forehead.

The dinosaurs continued their trumpeting calls, rising in alarm. Then, all of a sudden, they spun round, and began charging towards them.

"Mother of God," Bruce breathed, eyes wide. Retaining his composure, he turned and walked slowly past the camera, keeping his cool. Then he lost it. He ran, as fast as his legs would carry him.

Denham didn't.

The ground shook as the dinosaurs thundered closer, their massive legs slamming into the ground with frightening force. Herb glanced at his employer, nervously tugging at his collar, and snapped off another photo. Denham was staring ahead of him, enraptured, cranking his camera, and staying rooted to the spot.

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"Yes," Hayes said after a moment, "That is a plane…"

They could all hear it now. The wasp-like whine of an engine, growing steadily louder.

Bruce came hurtling round the corner into the gorge, as if the hounds of hell were on his tail.

"What's up?" Jack called as the panicking actor approached, "Where's Carl?"

"Carl?" Bruce stammered, slowing but not stopping, "He's up there, filming," he gestured with his gun, then charged through the sailors, shoving them in all directions. A number of them guessed that something nasty was coming, and began to move off after Bruce, and were promptly joined by the rest of the sailors when thy saw what was hovering over the gorge.

It was not a plane. It was a lump of flying metal, sleek and aerodynamic, a tinted window on its front. From its sides, two sections protruded outwards, engines resting in them.

"Oh, dear," the Doctor said, simply.

A hatch in the bottom of the craft opened, and a long lance-like device slid outwards, pointing at the sailors. Peri watched it with trepidation – she knew an energy weapon if she ever saw one. The tip of the weapon tracked across the mesmerised sailors, until it came to rest… on Jimmy. Then the tip began to glow.

"Jimmy, get down!" three voices yelled at once, in unison. Hayes. The Doctor. Peri.

Hayes and Peri lunged for the boy, trying to pull him down, out of the path of the beam. But too late.

The glowing stream of plasma – or whatever – hit him in the centre of his chest. Peri, who was closer than Hayes, slammed into the boy at the exact same moment as the disintegrator did its work. There was a blinding flash, and both Jimmy and Peri were reduced to atoms. Apart from the ashes, floating down to the ground.

Then the ship lifted into the sky, and vanished over the lip of the gorge. Hayes charged forward, yelling incoherently, opening fire with his gun as Herb loped past him.

"Mr Hayes!" the Doctor yelled, grabbing the chief mate and hauling him backwards.

Jack Driscoll looked away from the tears coursing down Hayes' face, and saw dinosaurs hurtling towards him, Denham just in front of them.

"Run, Jack!" Denham bellowed, hefting the camera onto his shoulder, yards from the crushing feet of the dinosaurs.

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Englehorn groaned. The doors to the Doctor's blue box wouldn't open, no matter how much he hit them. The Doctor had used a key, and Englehorn certainly had no key. So, no way out.

He fell forward onto the box's surface, resting his head on the blue paintwork, despairing.

Far above, at the very top of the cavern, a round hole opened in the roof, and six metal rings whistled down, coming to a hover on the _Venture_'s deck. Then the ring transmat engaged, light spilling from between the rings as the matter stream connected, and its occupants materialised. The rings whirred upwards, leaving three _things_ in their place. Then the firing started. And so did the screaming.

Englehorn's head jerked up as he heard the noises from above – the screaming of his crew, sizzling sounds, crashes, from above. He spun, and began to run towards the stairs to the deck, just as a massive explosion from an unknown source rocked the ship, sending the Doctor's box toppling sideways, sending cages flying, and crashed to the floor. And a key skittered over the floor, dislodged from a secret compartment over the 'P' of the 'Police Public Call Box'.

Then Englehorn realised something. The noises had stopped. Then a harsh voice echoed around the ship's corridors, sounding like two voices speaking at once.

"All humans will surrender, and your lives will be spared. You have seen what our weapons are capable of. Surrender, or your lives will be forfeit."

Then there was silence. Englehorn heard nothing, except a few footsteps across the deck – crewmembers surrendering. Yet something told Englehorn that would not be a good idea. He knelt amongst the fallen cages, and grabbed the key. He ran for the box, and slipped the key into the lock. He took a deep breath, but he was prepared for what lay inside. He shoved the door open, pushing his way into the room with the console, suddenly finding himself standing upright.

He raced over to the console, recalling the lever the Doctor had used earlier to seal the doors, and yanked it backwards. The doors slid shut with a hum, and the scanner screen activated itself, allowing Englehorn to see one of his sailors leading something into the hold, towards the fallen TARDIS.

When he saw it, his stomach turned itself in knots.

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) Things are starting to kick off now, aren't they? And of course, the narrative had to switch tracks at that moment when Jimmy and Peri were disintegrated for reasons known only to myself (for now) and the Doctor was about to be crushed by twenty tonnes of nervous dinosaur. It's dramatic effect, and every writer is guilty of it. In any case, between reading chemistry textbooks, and being bombarded by ideas for a _King Kong_ board game, I'll try to do a little work on the next chapter (or three), but I do have 3 exams in a week's time, and I need something to keep my spirits up. Reviews, for instance. Thanks for reading! (_END NOTE_)


	15. Stampede

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) And once again, here we all are. Gathered for the next exciting instalment of _The Land that Time Forgot_. The story seems to be shaping up nicely, especially my plans for chapter 17, which I'm working on right now. That's enough from me for the moment, so please enjoy the show… (_END NOTE_)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Hayes ran, his mind completely numb. _What the hell had happened to Jimmy_? Was the boy dead? Had Hayes failed to keep him safe, just like he'd failed his wife and son? The answer was yes, he felt it deep in the pit of his stomach. Jimmy was dead, blasted out of existence by that thing. Grief stabbed at his brain, making him want to stop and fall beneath the legs of the creatures approaching at high speed to crush them.

Jack ran past, followed by Denham, his camera resting on his shoulder, swaying awkwardly. That bastard had caused Jimmy's death. Hayes began to speed up, hate fuelling him, forcing him forwards, aiming to trip Denham and leave him to fall. Then the Doctor, running fast, swung into Hayes' path, dropping back to just in front of Hayes.

He said something, which took a moment to work its way into Hayes' brain.

"He's not dead."

What? Jimmy was still alive? How could the Doctor know? But that thought gave him hope. And he ran on, for the hope that Jimmy was out there, somewhere.

The Doctor charged forwards, his Time Lord physiology giving him the edge over the sailors, allowing him to move faster. He cut in his respiratory bypass system, utilising his people's symbiotic relationship with time to draw energy from the time distortion surrounding the island so he could concentrate on other things. As a Time Lord, he could think about six different things at once, excluding remembering to breath and keeping his hearts in sync. Right now he was concentrating on running (but he did that naturally), on drawing the temporal energy and using his symbiotic nuclei to convert it into psychic energy and telepathically channel it into the sailors, as well as planting the instinct to stay between the sauropod dinosaurs' legs in their minds, and keeping track of everyone. He'd been on the _Venture _long enough to get to know the rhythms of the minds of its crew. He never invaded a mind, of course – he could just feel their presence, like he could feel the minds of Peri and Jimmy. He was getting their psychic rhythms, just at the edge of his perception. He couldn't tell if they were injured, just that they were alive. And besides, that device Jimmy had been hit with was a short-range transmat beam.

The Doctor came back to earth with a jolt. Panic was radiating from the minds of the sailors at the back of the running group, as the dinosaurs began to overtake them. He dismissed the thoughts of Peri and Jimmy – he could find them later – and concentrated on feeding the energy and reminding the sailors to keep in between the dinosaur's legs. And running – jumping obstacles on reflex, avoiding potholes and crevices. _Ouch_. He felt his mind twinge slightly. Normally, what he was doing would be impossible – the amount of energy he was absorbing from the vortex should be fatal, but since the island was covered in temporal distortion, the rules were beginning to get distorted as well. The sailors should only get mild headaches, and he couldn't afford to think what would happen to him. He forced his thoughts back to the chase, and ran on.

Jack ran, feeling strangely energised, as if he could do this forever, while shadows fell over him as the dinosaurs began to overtake him. One thought was prominent in his head, _stay between their legs._ It was almost as if he could hear the Doctor saying them. Obeying the thought in his head, buoyed by seemingly limitless reserves of energy, Jack kept running.

All down the line of rampaging dinosaurs, every sailor was thinking the same thing. Stay between the dinosaur's legs, don't let them crush you, and keep running, just keep running.

Hayes, still chasing the Doctor, also feeling the energy flowing into him, heard a growling, tapping sound from behind him. He glanced round, and would have started panicking, if it wasn't for the strangely reassuring thought in his head. He was close to the back of the stampede, and could see out between the dinosaur's legs, back down the gorge. And he could also see the massive dinosaurs giving chase.

The creatures ran on two powerful hind legs, much smaller arms tucked against their streamlined bodies. They held their heads low, balancing them with their long tails, their deep-set eyes staring forwards, cold and cruel. The creatures were completely grey, except for their backs, which were darker, and the skin around their eyes, which was coloured a vivid red. Their mouths were full of teeth, and, by God, they were _fast_. Their clawed feet pounded along the ground, carrying them ever closer to the stampede, faster than any of the sailors could run. And their feet sported huge claws, held above their other toes, at least twice the size of their other claws.

Hayes turned back towards the Doctor, and began to run, forcing himself to move as fast as he could.

The Doctor felt Hayes' panic echo through his mind, and immediately knew the source. The carnivorous dinosaurs pursuing them – sixteen to twenty-four feet in length, these creatures were what dromaeosaurids, like Dienonychus and Velociraptor, would have eventually evolved into. But there was something odd about them – he knew they were there, but he couldn't sense the presence of their minds. Every living thing had some sort of telepathic presence, but these creatures didn't…

The Doctor winced as he felt a sailor's life end, because he'd lost concentration, and disrupted the energy flow to the sailor. _Concentrate, Doctor, worry about the dinosaurs later…_ He ran, forcing more urgent instructions into the sailors' minds, even overcoming Lumpy's smokers cough.

Jack heard the sounds of the pursuing dinosaurs calling to each other, and he glanced over his shoulder. He saw one charging through the legs of the stampeding creatures, straight towards him. He paled, and stumbled. His head snapped round to look where he was going, his legs seeming to run automatically, his eyes darting across the ravine, desperately searching for some way out. Then, without thinking, he lunged to the right, straight through the swinging legs of the brontosaur. The raptor lunged after him, stretching its mouth open wide, then snatched it back at the last second, just avoiding being crushed by the brontosaur's leg. It lunged twice more, snarling as each time its efforts to feed were thwarted. It looked away; searching for some gap in the rhythm of the dinosaur's thundering legs… and saw Denham, directly in front of it, weighed down by his heavy camera.

It increased its speed, heading straight for the flagging filmmaker, greed glinting in its eye. It closed the gap between itself and Denham with frightening speed, stretching open its mouth as it came in close, ready for the kill. And Denham didn't even notice.

Then Jack lunged through a gap in the brontosaur's legs, shoulder-charging the raptor, sending it staggering into the path of one of the brontosaur's legs. Its hunt ended with a wet crunch.

All along the length of the canyon, raptors which had been lying in wait for the pack's prey leapt from their hiding places on the clifftops, soaring through the air to land on the dinosaur's backs, scrabbling for purchase, sinking their claws and teeth into the grey skin. And then, one lucky raptor hit a brontosaur on the neck. Its teeth sliced through the flesh, severing an artery with ease. The brontosaur went down, and the creatures behind it, still running at full speed, couldn't stop in time. They tripped, flying head over heels into the air, crashing onto the canyon floor, crushing sailors and raptors, creating the biggest pile-up history had ever seen - as if a multi-storey car park had subsided, and all the cars slid out one side onto the road, only with sauropod dinosaurs.

The Doctor sensed what was happening ahead, feeling the lives of the sailors ahead being snuffed out. He mentally influenced the survivors, slowing them, pushing them into cracks and alcoves in the canyon's walls, where they should be safe from the predators as they feasted on the brontosaurs. But these deinonychids were intelligent, he could feel it. Far too intelligent to let potential desserts escape.

The Doctor dived into a crack in the wall, releasing himself from the telepathic trance as he did so. He leaned against the wall, breathing deeply, his head spinning. Major telepathic work like that really took it out of you. It was only the temporal distortion that had let him get away with it for that long, and it was doubtful he'd be able to do that again if he wanted to work out what was going on. He closed his eyes, focusing his mind in the Gallifreyan meditation techniques K'anpo had taught him centuries ago. He felt the effects immediately, the calm washing over him, feeling the tiredness melt away.

"Doctor?"

The Doctor's attention returned to the mortal world, his brief meditation having partially replenished his stores of energy, leaving him good for the next half-hour or so. He glanced in the direction of the voice. It was Hayes.

"You said Jimmy wasn't dead," Hayes pressed.

"No, I doubt he is."

"You doubt?" Hayes growled, angry at the false hope.

"That beam that hit Jimmy was a teleportation field. What it did was transport him and Peri aboard the flying vessel, so wherever it is, they are. And it did seem to target Jimmy specifically…"

"What are you saying?"  
"I think I'm starting to work out what's going on here," the Doctor mused, a dark look on his face.

Hayes frowned, "And what does that mean?" he asked, expecting he wouldn't like the answer.

"I recognised the technology of the super-orbital ship, I've remembered where I saw technology like the control panel only Jimmy could influence."

"And?"

"It's not good, but I don't have all the pieces of the puzzle yet," the Doctor stood, glancing about him, "We need to find a way out of this canyon, before those carnivores find the…" the Doctor paused, frowned, "And I just think I've found one."

Hayes glanced to where the Doctor was looking. On the ground, just visible in the gloom, was a ring of metal, invisible unless you knew it was there. But that rule evidently didn't apply to the Doctor, who was fishing round in a pile of rocks.

"Ah-ha!" he said, pulling a boulder aside, revealing a square box set into the cliff, inlaid with eight buttons, each dull green and engraved with a strange symbol.

"Standard combination I think…" the Doctor muttered, tapping the buttons, lighting them up as he did so.

He paused, and glanced up at Hayes, "I'll be gone for a few minutes, to check it's safe. Could you get everyone here?"

Hayes nodded, wondering what the Doctor was talking about. Then the Doctor tapped another button on the box, then scurried into the centre of the ring as a humming sound rose from the device.

The ring seemed to sink into the floor, and slide away, allowing six rings to float out of the cavity, and surround the Doctor. Light flared between the rings, then they floated down, and the ring closed behind them. The Doctor had gone.

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) The main plot hole in this sequence in the movie was the fact that it was very unlikely that a stampede of panicking brontosaurs being pursued by twenty-foot velociraptors would only kill 4 people. I hope I've addressed that here. Watch this space for chapter 16, and remember I do like to hear your thoughts… (_END NOTE_)


	16. Survivors

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) Sorry I've been away for a while. I'm up to my eyeballs in work which needs to be done in a couple of weeks, and there was a slight problem with the DocX system which cut me off. Consequently, this chapter is in its 'raw' un-edited state, and may be replaced in the future when Lorze the Brooks has had a chance to look at it. Enjoy. (_END NOTE_)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Peri's eyes snapped open. It took her a moment to work out where she was, and when she realised she sat up quickly. She was in a small room, and her head had been resting on Jimmy's bare chest. He was lying on the floor, his head lolling, blood trickling out of his nose, and he was very unconscious. Peri pressed her fingers to his neck, as she'd seen the Doctor do, feeling the reassuring beat of his pulse.

She glanced around the room, taking in her surroundings. The walls were carved with strange, raised, abstract patterns, and from the way the room was swaying slightly it was quite possible they were flying. She stood, taking a moment to get her balance, then stepped over Jimmy towards a recess in the wall. There was a small window set into the door, and Peri stood on tip-toe to peer through it, and she saw the jungles and mountains of Skull Island flowing along beneath them. But dominating the skyline through the viewscreen at the front of the ship was the massive mountain at the centre of the island, obviously their destination.

Then she saw what was flying the ship, and she froze. She swallowed, then stepped back from the door, her heart in her mouth. Of all the creatures she had seen on her travels, she had never seen anything like that. She sat on a bench bolted to the wall of the compartment, trying to breathe slowly and calmly, when her backside nudged against something. She turned, and saw it was a small box, also bolted to the wall. She checked inside, to see if there was anything that would help her against the alien, and was surprised at what she saw. Two vials of blood. Peri carefully slid one out of the stasis field holding it in the centre, and stopping it crashing into the other, and examined it. There was what looked like a small computer chip attached to the side, away from the big button that obviously opened the vial. Experimentally, Peri tapped at the chip, and a hologram leapt from it. The pixels formed themselves into an image, of Jimmy. So, this was a sample of Jimmy's blood…

Peri checked the other vial, and found it was also Jimmy's blood. Ideas of precisely why aliens wanted Jimmy's blood leapt into her head, none of them good. And it certainly looked like they'd be able to carry it out. There was no way she could escape, and even if she could, there was no way she could carry the source of the blood, who wasn't going to wake up anytime soon.

A jolt rocked the small ship, and the sound of the engines powering down told Peri they had landed. There was a clunk, and a ramp began to fold down at the back of the ship. Peri cautiously looked out of the opening, and was surprised to see no guards. Not a single alien creature.

She glanced back at Jimmy, still out cold on the ground. Guiltily, she grabbed one of the vials of blood from the box, and ran out of the hatch. The ship had landed on a small shelf on the side of the mountain, in a small clear area close to the cliff face. She ducked behind a fern, staying close to the ground so the creature in the cockpit wouldn't see her. And she was just in time.

There was a rumbling sound, and six rings rose from the ground close to the ship, hovering one above the other. Light flared between the rings, and then they sank into the ground, leaving three aliens in their place. They went into the ship, and emerged again a few minutes later, dragging Jimmy's body between them. The boy's head lolled to one side, blood dribbling from his nostril.

One of the creatures reached for the rock face, a lump of grey rock flickering out of existence to reveal a control panel comprised of eight buttons, each dull green, and engraved with odd alien glyphs. The creature punched in a combination, and the rings appeared again, transporting Jimmy and the creatures to an unknown destination. Once they'd gone, the hologrammatic rock flickered back into existence, hiding all evidence of the transmat controls.

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Hayes had managed to gather all the surviving sailors together, unfortunately with Denham and crew in tow, although Herb, the cameraman, had met an untimely end at the teeth of the raptors.

Denham swigged from his hip-flask, wide eyed, looking upset. Herb had been with him for almost eight years.

"It's not your fault," Preston said, "What happened to Herb, I mean."

"Your absolutely right, Preston," Denham said, turning to face his assistant, "And y'know what? I'm gonna finish this film for Herb. I'm gonna finish it, and donate the proceeds to his wife and kids."

Preston was lost for words. Herb didn't have any kids. Or a wife. Just his niece, Clara.

"Mr Hayes," Lumpy said, "Why are we hiding in this crevice?"

Hayes was about to reply when the rumbling noise interrupted him, and a split second later the rings engaged, depositing the Doctor into the centre of the circle on the ground.

"Ah, there you all are," he said, smiling, "Come along, we haven't got a moment to lose." He stepped out of the circle, and began motioning the sailors to step into it, hushing their protests and cautioning them to move out the way when the transporting had finished. One by one, he persuaded the sailors to step into the circle whilst he engaged the rings. Group by group, the sailors vanished, until only Hayes, Lumpy and the Doctor remained.

"Come along then," the Doctor said, practically dragging the other two with him. Hayes folded, and allowed the Doctor to lead him to the circle without protest. Lumpy followed suit, trusting his senior officer. When the rings encircled him, Hayes felt a moment of trepidation, but then he saw the flare of light, and the next moment the rings were rising into the darkness above, revealing that they were in a completely different place.

A long corridor, stretching into the distance, with many alcoves set into its walls, which were covered in raised, unearthly patterned reliefs. The only light was a faint luminescence that shone from crystals embedded in the ceiling, but it was barely enough to see by.

"Is everyone here?" the Doctor asked, glancing between the dark shapes that were the sailors. When he got an affirmative answer, he nodded to himself, then began to stride down the corridor, away from the sailors.

"Doctor!" Hayes called after him, "Where are we?"

"Judging by the relative gravitational shift in our surroundings," the Doctor called over his shoulder, "I'd say about thirty feet below where we were a minute or two ago. Come on, we don't have time to stand around gawping. We need to find Jimmy and Ann."

"What do you mean thirty feet? And what was that ring thing?"

"That 'ring thing' as you put it," the Doctor said, not slowing his stride and forcing the sailors to jog to keep up, "Was a transportation device. It works by taking you apart at the atomic level and transmitting the information to another set of rings, which reassembles you," he paused, "Did you get any of that?"

"No," Lumpy said.

"Think of it as a Morse code transmitter, only it transmits people and objects rather than bleeps."

That made much more sense, although Hayes was given to wander precisely how a set of floating rings could transmit a person across large distances. He suspected he wouldn't understand the explanation. It seemed better to just hope these weird machines worked, and that they'd be able to get to Jimmy.

"A much more advanced version of the Transmat was used on Jimmy and Peri," the Doctor was saying, "One that didn't require a disintegration chamber."

He paused, examining one of the raised reliefs on the walls.

"As for the 'thirty feet below'," he continued, "This could be a cave or a catacomb. The extent of the ruins we've seen so far suggests a thriving civilisation once existed here, so that seems likely. And I so hope it is."

"Why?" Jack asked, nervously.

"Because the alternatives would be incredibly bad news."

Before anyone could ask what the alternatives were, the Doctor spoke again, "Hopefully we'll find another Ring Transmat along this hall, or maybe something that'll tell us where there is one. Or, if we're really lucky, where to find Jimmy and Ann."

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Ann dropped heavily onto the ground. She lay on the leaf-litter for a long time, not moving. The gigantic gorilla stood over her, peering down at her with a strange, hesitant concern. Eventually, he settled back on his haunches, turning to look at the view.

The gorilla had taken Ann to the top of a huge stone staircase set into the side of the central mountain of Skull Island, where there was a small shelf of rock set between two ancient stone buttresses. He often came to this spot, partly because it was close to some large bamboo plants. He leant his back against one of the buttresses, reaching for a bamboo plant and snapping it off. He began to chew the plant, not really watching Ann.

Unnoticed, Ann moved.

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Jimmy's eyes cracked open. He groaned at the ache in the base of his skull, but it faded almost instantly. He raised his head from where he was lying on a rough floor, and saw that he was alone in a cage at the centre of a dark room. The cage was large enough for him to stand, and about five paces square. The walls were covered in raised patterns, and dim light shone from crystals embedded in the ceiling.

He stood, swaying slightly. He reached out a hand to steady himself against the cage's horizontal bars, and yelled as sparks flew from where his skin had touched the metal. Now wide awake, he examined his fingers, seeing the burn marks on the flesh.

A grinding sound came from behind him, and he turned to see one of the walls sliding away, revealing a brightly lit corridor beyond. And then he saw the creatures walking down the corridor towards him. And his mouth went dry.

Two walking crystal skeletons. Tall, with thin ribcages and pelvises, they moved in eerie silence, making no sounds as their quartz feet touched the hard cold floor. Their skulls were flat, faceless, staring straight ahead, with their craniums elongated, sweeping back, and in the eye sockets were two sharp points of red light, unmoving and unemotional.

As they entered the room, the light from the crystals in the ceiling grew brighter, and reflected off the polished crystal bones. Light flared between the bars of the cage, and a hum sounded, falling in pitch as the flaring light made its way downwards, flashing once between each pair of horizontal bars. Then the side of the cage facing the corridor began to descend into the ground, allowing the skeletons to enter the cage, and head straight for Jimmy. They grabbed his arms, forcing them backwards, their crystal surfaces cold against his skin, as another person entered the cell.

It was a woman, who looked like one of the islanders. Another prisoner, like him? She wore a long dress bedecked with gold – necklaces, bracelets and an ornate headdress, with a large jar hanging from a belt. She stared straight ahead, ignoring Jimmy until she stood right in front of him. Then she lifted her right arm, revealing a golden gauntlet on her hand, with a large orange gemstone set into the centre of the palm. It glowed with a sharp fire as she held it against Jimmy's face, the light seeming to pierce his brain, driving directly into his mind.

Then she took the glove away, and nodded to the skeletons. They released Jimmy's arms, letting them fall to his sides. He tried to turn his head to see if his arms were bruised. But he couldn't. He couldn't move at all.

"_Ehrthklai stofah_," the woman said, and the skeletons moved to obey her instructions.

Moments later, Jimmy stood, paralysed, naked in front of the woman. She looked at him in contempt, then her eyes travelled down his body, taking in the muscles of his chest and legs, and the look in her eyes vanished, replaced with one Jimmy couldn't identify. She lifted the jar from her belt, holding it close to Jimmy's body, allowing the dark liquid within to slosh around. She forced open his mouth, looking at his teeth, and held the jar close, as if showing it. Then she examined him, as Lumpy might examine a sack of walnuts before bringing them onto the ship.

Finally, she stood back, giving Jimmy one last glance, before she addressed the jar.

"_Stofah trehgilotee bahroneht_?"

Jimmy heard no answer, but the woman must have, as she looked up at him, and smiled. She walked behind him, and he heard the sound of the lid being taken off the jar. Water splashed, and a new sound reached his ears. A wailing noise, like a chick, only deeper, gruffer and more malevolent. He felt something brush against the skin of his back, something wet, slimy and snakelike. Then

Pain. Agony flaring, searing through his nerves, flooding from the back of his neck in waves of fire. Jimmy wanted to scream, tried to scream, but he couldn't. The pain engulfed him, and he blacked out.


	17. Kong

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) Sorry for the lack of updates over the last few months – I've been very busy. So here's chapter seventeen, picking up from where the last one left off (well, almost). So here's the chapter. Enjoy. (_END NOTE_)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Slowly, Ann began to crawl forwards, struggling to make as little noise as possible. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the gorilla turned away, chewing on something. She moved through the leaf litter, furtively glancing between the gorilla and the ground in front of her.

She paused as her probing fingers hit something cold, metallic. She glanced down, and saw, through the leaf litter, a large metal ring embedded in the ground. She ignored it, sliding silently behind a rock close to one of the buttresses that enclosed the ledge.

Ann pressed herself against the rock, hardly daring to breathe, listening for the tell-tale roaring as the gorilla found she was missing.

There was no roaring. Just the crunching sound of the gorilla chewing. Ann breathed out, but her heart was still thudding in her chest. It would only take a moment for the gorilla to find she was missing. She had to get away, as fast as she could. But then what? How could she find her way back to the Wall and the _Venture_?

Well, she'd have to cross that bridge when she came to it. For now, she just had to get away from the gorilla. She glanced round, looking for a way out of the valley formed by the buttresses. On three sides was sheer, vertical rock, and on the fourth were the steps, and the gorilla. But in the wall on Ann's right, there was a doorway, leading to a tunnel that bored straight through the buttress. She could see trees through the entrance.

Carefully, quietly, Ann stood and moved towards the doorway. The gorilla's chewing sounds continued, and Ann quickly ducked into the stone arch, leaning close to the wall, out of the gorilla's sight. She was careful not to get too close to the wall, as it was covered in cobwebs. The chewing sounds continued. Ann turned, and made her way through the tunnel to the other side of the buttress. She paused at the end, and peered out of the second arch.

There was a shelf of rock against a cliff face, clear of trees. A small stone platform rose from the edge of the shelf, leaning over the abyss, upon which was a short pillar of stone. Ann glanced back towards the other end of the tunnel, where the gorilla was. She couldn't hear the sound of the chewing any more. But she was probably out of range…

Ann glanced round one last time, then ran out onto the shelf, heading for the trees, as fast as she could. She was almost there when

The gorilla's fist slammed into the ground between her and the trees. Ann spun, and saw the gorilla standing over her, roaring angrily.

* * *

Jimmy opened his eyes, and realised he'd collapsed. He heard a groan, and realised it was himself. He felt his head rise, to peer round the room. But he hadn't moved his head – it was aching too much. It had moved on its own.

Jimmy stood up, swaying slightly. The woman moved in to steady him, concern etched on her face. She put an arm round him, then helped him towards the cage bars, where he steadied himself.

"Are you alright?" she asked in an alien language, speaking with a feminine voice layered over a deep, booming voice.

"Yes," Jimmy replied, in exactly the same way. In the same language, with the same deep growl undercutting his normal voice. He turned to face the woman, eyes travelling up and down the curves of her body. He looked up, locking eyes with her, an inhuman lust sparking in them. Then his eyes glowed, with a bright yellow light.

The woman smiled, feeling exactly the same thing. The skeletons turned abruptly, and left the room, leaving Jimmy alone with the woman. They kissed, the woman running her hands across Jimmy's chest and back, feeling the smoothness of the skin, the muscles moving underneath it, the thin sheen of sweat coating the surface.

And, imprisoned within his own head, Jimmy was screaming.

* * *

The gorilla roared with fury, advancing menacingly on Ann, its massive frame towering over her puny form. It took a step forward, face contorting into an expression of rage.

Ann spun, running back towards the tunnel in the rock face, but the gorilla vaulted over her, slamming into the ground directly between her and the tunnel… leaving the way to the jungle clear. Ann spun again, charging headlong towards the trees, desperate to escape the clutches of this animal. Wasn't it gorillas that attacked children in Africa? Or was that Chimpanzees?

The gorilla lunged after her, swinging its arm and sending her sprawling towards the promontory over the cliff. It moved in over her, forcing her to crawl towards the promontory, where she was cornered.

With nowhere to go, Ann rolled onto her back, staring defiantly up at the gorilla, waiting for it to pound her into oblivion.

But it didn't. Instead, it growled, making guttural noises in its throat, teeth bared, glaring down at her. Its eyebrows were lowered over its eyes, in some kind of frown, grunting all the time, like a mother telling off a child.

_Telling off a child…_

Ann carefully got to her feet, keeping her eyes locked on the gorilla's – Kong, the natives had called him. The gorilla continued to grunt angrily, then Ann jumped in the air, landing carefully and not moving.

The gorilla jerked back – startled – its face registering immediate concern. It began to move forward, carefully and abnormally silently, balancing its torso on its knuckles. Its elbows were bent; pushing its face closer to the ground, closer to Ann. Worry was etched across its features, even though it had a massive jagged tooth jutting from its lower jaw.

Ann leapt to her feet, standing with her feet apart, arms raised. The gorilla reared back, eyes widening. Ann began to jump sideways, moving her feet in practiced steps. A dance. Just like she had done on stage.

She continued to dance, imagining she was hearing the music played by Sam the pianist. She kept in the beat of the imaginary notes, focusing on remembering the steps of the vaudeville dance.

The gorilla, Kong, looked perplexed, mouth hanging slightly open, large brown eyes following Ann as she moved around the promontory. He settled back on his haunches, continuing to stare at Ann, riveted to her every move.

He took a deep breath, his whole body shaking, releasing each breath with a strange, hacking noise in his throat, as if he was choking. But no.

He was laughing.

Laughing delightedly, his eyes wide and brimming with the same excitement Ann had seen on kid's faces when they came to theatre, shortly before the Wall Street crash four years earlier. Now she never saw kids in the theatre any more – losing out to the motion-picture industry.

Ann stumbled, concentration wavering. Kong grunted, not seeming to notice.

Ann continued to dance, but in the heat of the morning sun it was tiring work. She shifted between juggling small stones and her limited acrobatic ability, before finally grabbing a long piece of wood and using it like a walking stick. Kong looked away, blowing air between his lips. Ann had been dancing for nearly quarter of an hour now, and, just like a small child, he was getting bored. Ann recognised the signs, and quickly brought her act to an end.

She finished with a flourish, leaning on the stick, with her other hand held up in the air.

Kong reached forward, and flicked his finger. The stick spun away, and Ann crashed to the floor. _That_ got Kong laughing again. Ann sat up, teeth gritted as her limbs smarted. Carefully, she stood up, guessing she had a nasty bruise somewhere.

Kong reached forward, a lopsided grin on his face, distorted slightly by his jutting tooth. His hand came forwards fast, pushing against Ann – knocking her to the ground, again. Her head banged against the shallow steps leading up to the promontory.

She groaned, embarrassed despite there being nobody else there. Kong made the same grunting, laughing noise. Ann remained on the ground, hoping Kong wouldn't knock her over again. But he reached forwards, wrapping his fingers around her to haul her to her feet. He set her down, gently, so she was standing, then promptly pushed her over again.

He laughed, his mouth stretching into another grin. He pulled Ann to her feet again, oblivious to the look of despair and pain on Ann's face. She groaned, glaring at the gorilla towering over her, laughing. It tapped its chest with its hand, making a monkey-like noise as it did so. It reached forwards again, finger outstretched, and Ann snapped.

"_No!_" she yelled, hitting the hand as hard as she could, "I said no!"

Kong froze, the ridiculous grin vanished from his face, his lower lip sliding up over his dislocated incisor. His eyebrows slid down, into an angry frown. He snarled, raising his fist.

"That's all there is," Ann said, resolute, "There isn't any more."

Ann stood, at the base of the promontory over a five-hundred foot cliff, Kong standing over her, his fist raised to crush her.

* * *

Peri groaned. Now that the small ship had taken off, the only way off the shelf was via the concealed transmat. But that obviously led straight into the lion's den – so to speak. Sighing, she stepped up to where she remembered the holographic rock to be.

Carefully, she reached forwards, pressing her hand against the rock. It was solid.

She sighed, frustrated. No way to get off the shelf, no way to get to Jimmy.

Hang on… Don't holograms have to be generated from somewhere? Peri glanced around, eyes falling on an oddly shaped rock, carved with strange symbols like the glyphs on the transmat control device.

She hefted another rock, aiming for the carved rock, halfway up a short cliff. She took aim, and threw it as hard as she could. The stone smashed into the carved rock, knocking it out of line. She grinned – Jimmy had spent some hours on the _Venture_ showing her how to flick walnuts at Bruce Baxter, and given her plenty of tips on actually hitting what she was aiming at.

The hologrammatic rock swung to the left, exposing the transmat controls, and the eight greenish glyphs. Peri examined them, frowning as she did so.

_Think about it logically,_ Peri told herself. Right, this console was obviously a combination lock, determining who could activate the transmat. But what was the combination? She couldn't remember the code she'd seen the crystal skeleton enter into it. Idly, she tapped out a random sequence of symbols, not that she'd get the combination right.

The ring transmat activated.

Peri found herself in a small chamber, as the rings descended into their compartment beneath the floor. She glanced around the room, and her eyes fell… on the TARDIS.

* * *

Ann closed her eyes, waiting for Kong's fist to come smashing down, to crush her bones to dust, like he had all those people in the boneyard.

But the world didn't come to a crashing end as she was turned into a bloody pulp.

Kong roared in anger, and she opened her eyes to see him running across the rocky shelf, smashing his fists into various stone pillars and statues, sending them all over the place – off the cliff, onto the slope above, into the trees. He spun back to face Ann, snarling with fury… and a large piece of stone he'd thrown a few seconds ago came rolling down the slope and smashing onto his head.

He grunted, wincing. Slowly, he lowered his fist, glaring at Ann. Then he began to move, loping across the shelf, to the two towers flanking the staircase. He leapt into the air, grabbing the top of the tower and swinging away, out of sight.

Leaving Ann alone.

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) Hopefully you can guess what's happened to Jimmy. I'm just a little bit unsure about whether that scene sits well with the rest of the story, and since I haven't heard back from my betareader, I thought I'd gauge the reaction from any reviews I get (hint hint). (_END NOTE_)


	18. What Lies Beneath

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) So welcome to the latest chapter. I've actually had this on my PC for a while now, but I've been either too busy or cut off by the DocX system to post it. Now I've finally got round it, and I can promise there's an answer (or two) in this chapter – but I think they lead to more questions… Apologies for the late posting, but now it's the Christmas holidays I should have a bit more time to write, when I'm not revising or learning lines. (_END NOTE_)

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The Doctor peered at the sealed window at the back of the alcove, tapping at it with a tuning fork. He sighed.

"This would be so much easier if I hadn't left the sonic screwdriver in the TARDIS," he muttered.

Hayes and the other sailors were waiting in the corridor just outside the alcove, whilst the Doctor variously moved between open hatches on the walls inside and outside the alcove. Inside each hatch were a series of crystals arranged in specific patterns, some of different colours and others white, with strange symbols etched on its surface. The Doctor frowned, removing a crystal and examining it in the torchlight.

"How's it going?" Hayes asked, appearing at the Doctor's shoulder.

"Not well," the Doctor mused, "I'm not an expert with crystal mechanics, but the only problem here seems to be a lack of power."

"And this is another… people-transmitter?"

"Yes," the Doctor confirmed, "Like the rings, only in a sealed system."

Hayes didn't pretend to understand any of it.

"Whilst the rings can link with any other set of rings, dependent on the precise set of symbols you enter into the controls, this transmat can only link with other transmats in these corridors."

"Doctor," Lumpy snapped, lighting up a cigarette, "Will you shut up and get us out of here?"

"Alright, alright," the Doctor said, and got back to work.

"Mr Hayes," Lumpy said, "Can I have a word?"

Hayes left the alcove, standing over Lumpy as Jack listened in to their conversation.

"This island," Lumpy began, "What the hell have we got ourselves into?"

"What do you mean?" Jack interrupted.

"This island," Lumpy repeated, "Dinosaurs, flying things, people-transmitters. You've seen them! It's too dangerous. How do we even know Jimmy or Miss Darrow are still alive?"

"Get to the point," Hayes snapped.

"That was the point," Lumpy retorted, "They could be dead, and we know four of us definitely are! So what if they're dead as well?"

"I'm not giving up on Ann," Jack said, glaring at Lumpy, who ignored him.

"Lives will have been lost for nothing," the cook continued, "and considering what we've seen so far on this island, they probably are dead!"

Hayes slammed him against the wall.

"We. Are. Not. Leaving. Them." He said, slowly, angrily.

"Oh," Lumpy choked, "You mean you're not leaving _Jimmy_. He's not your son, _Mr_ Hayes!"

"Gentlemen," the Doctor intervened, "Could I remind you that Jimmy happens to be able to use highly advanced technology, and that there happens to be a surprising amount of such technology lying around on this island."

"So _you_ say," Lumpy reminded him.

"And there's also the fact of 'safety in numbers'," the Doctor added, "And if it makes you feel any better, we may be able to use these transmats to get back to the _Venture_ quickly, bypassing the dinosaurs."

Lumpy grunted.

"Excellent," the Doctor smiled, before turning back to the sealed window at the back of the alcove. As he approached it, the slab of steel covering it slid apart, revealing a glowing blue screen, with white lines tracing a shape on it. A central circle, with six piers radiating from its centre. Each pier widened at the far end into a wedge shape, and all across the image were a series of red dots, with one dot green. Layered around the shape was a twisty, faint line.

"Hmmm," the Doctor said, as Carl Denham pushed him to one side to film the screen.

"It seems I was right. There is something buried underneath the island. And right now, we're inside it."

* * *

Peri produced the TARDIS key from her pocket, sliding it into the lock – she might be able to get the tracker from the toolbox, and use it to find Jimmy. She pushed the door open, and stopped.

"Captain?" she said, surprised, "What are you doing here?"

"Miss Brown," Englehorn said, turning from the toolbox, "Something happened."

"Obviously," Peri said.

Englehorn scowled, obviously confused, "Sorry," Peri said, "Go on."

"There was a light," Englehorn said, "And the ship was in a cavern. Then some… crystal skeletons turned up and…" he broke off, then took a deep breath, "and killed everyone. They brought the Doctor's box up here."

"And you hid in here?" Peri asked.

"There was nothing I could have done!" Englehorn snapped, defensive.

"That's not what I'm saying," Peri replied quickly. She glanced behind Englehorn, to the toolbox. She pushed past him, fishing around in the toolbox until she found the tracker.

"Where's happened to the others?" Englehorn asked.

"I don't know," Peri said, pulling the tracker out of the box, "We got separated – some spacecraft teleported Jimmy aboard, but I got in the way of the beam. He was taken somewhere by those skeletons. I don't know where."

She paused, and turned to the Captain, "They're aliens, captain. From another world."

Englehorn frowned, forcing himself to accept what was being said, "What would they want with Jimmy?"

"In the village on the other side of the Wall," Peri said, "He touched something, a machine, and it worked. Problem was, it only worked when _he_ touched it."

Peri fiddled with the tracker, producing the vial of Jimmy's blood she had taken from the ship. She opened the sample compartment and poured a little of the blood into it, putting the stopper back on the test tube and closing the compartment.

"What's that?" Englehorn said.

"Tracking device," Peri said, "Should take us to Jimmy. If I remember which button is the on switch."

"I found this," Englehorn said, holding up a tube roughly six inches long.

"It might help," Peri said, taking it, "The Doctor said he'd been building it for the last few years. He called it a sonic screwdriver," she paused, glancing up at Englehorn, "By the way, how did you get in here?"

"The box fell over," Englehorn said, "There was a compartment in the roof with a key."

"Really?" Peri muttered.

She stood, switching on the tracker and pocketing the sonic screwdriver. The tracker bleeped, causing Peri to raise her eyebrows, "It seems Jimmy's close by."

"Then let's go and find him," Englehorn said.

* * *

"What do you mean?" Jack asked.

"The architecture of this corridor," the Doctor said, "Is typical of one particular race of creatures, who should all be extinct, and this diagram," he indicated the monitor, "shows a perfect replica of their most recognisable method of transport."

There was a brief silence.

"Which is?" Denham asked, impatiently.

"We are in a Xylok city-ship," the Doctor said, darkly.

"So what does that mean we do?" Hayes asked.

"Hope they're all dead," the Doctor said, "And that it's some form of scavenger race that are using the Xylok technology."

There was complete silence. The look on the Doctor's face was chilling enough.

Then he spoke again, "When I've gone, wait a few minutes, then come in and press this red circle," he pointed to the red circle on the blue screen, then pressed it.

The covers slid across the screen, and at the same time two doors slid across the alcove. The sound of a ring transmat was heard, and then the doors slid open to reveal an empty alcove.

The sailors glanced at each other, then followed the Doctor's instructions. The alcove's transmat system took them to another alcove in a dank cave, with a short corridor leading out to the left and to the right. Both corridors led into the jungle, the right corridor to a small ledge situated between two stone towers. At the edge was a steep staircase heading down, and at the back was a Ring transmat.

The left corridor led to a rocky shelf, with a stone promontory stretching over the cliff. A small stone pillar rose from the promontory, and the Doctor was examining it, sitting in the same place where Ann had danced for Kong.

"Doctor?" Jack asked.

The Doctor glanced round, "Oh, sorry," he said, standing up, "Y'know, this seems to be some sort of exhaust pipe."

"We're all here, Doctor," Hayes said, emerging from the tunnel.

"Okay," the Doctor said, "We're at the top of one of the buried towers, close to the control tower," he pointed upwards, towards the peak of the mountain at the centre of the island, "Which is where Jimmy is most likely to be."

"What about Ann?" Jack asked.

"Along with computer tracking systems that would make it very easy to find Ann," the Doctor finished, "We should be able to find a way into the tower via the caves we saw carved into the mountain peak."

"I think that's decided then," Hayes said after a minute, before leading the sailors into the forest on the other side of the rocky shelf, in the same direction Ann had gone.

* * *

Peri and Englehorn stood in an alcove in a dark passage, pressed against the raised reliefs on the walls. They could see a large room, stairs leading from four passages, one of which they were in, up to a raised walkway along the centre of the room. At one end of the walkway was a large machine, and at the other were stairs leading up to two balconies on either side of the room.

They could see several crystal skeletons moving in silence around the machine, but it was when another group of them entered the room thorough another passage that they really started paying attention.

There were two crystal skeletons, flanking a strange woman, and Jimmy.

Jimmy looked pretty much the same as he had when Peri had last seen him – sailor's clothes, no shirt, bloody scratches on his face and a glyph scarred onto his shoulder, except for his expression. What had once been boyish charm, curiosity and a slight haunted look was replaces with an arrogant, hateful expression. Peri strained to hear what he was saying.

"…the Doctor is with the group this host was taken from. He is intelligent enough to threaten out plans."

"Why had they come beyond the Wall?" the woman asked. Peri frowned. It was odd – she could hear Jimmy's voice coming from his mouth, yet it was underscored with a deep, booming tone. The woman's voice had the same tones undercutting her own.

"They are searching for a human woman taken by the guard," Jimmy replied, "Ann Darrow. If we were able to capture her, we might be able to eliminate them."

The voices continued as their owners climbed the stairs to the balconies, and Englehorn pulled Peri's shoulder.  
"Why was he talking like that?" he hissed, "And did you understand any of it?"

Peri guessed Jimmy had been talking in another language, which the TARDIS had been translating for her. She thought about what Jimmy had said for a moment, and two words leapt out at her. _This host_. Host.

"I think," she said, carefully, "He's got some kind of parasite inside him. It could have taken over his body."


	19. Baiting the Trap

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) Well, I'm back! After some stressful exams, it feels good to finally update this. I think I'm getting a handle on precisely where the story is going, and how it's going to end, but of course to keep the twists and turns in the plot I have to surprise myself as I go along. Oh well, here's the next chapter. (_END NOTE_)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

"What?" Englehorn asked, hurrying after Peri as she jogged through the corridors.

"We have to find the Doctor," Peri said, "This sort of thing – alien activity – it's what he deals with. Wherever we've gone in the TARDIS, we've found similar things."

"So the Doctor will be able to sort this all out?" Englehorn demanded angrily, "Just get whatever's in Jimmy out and rescue Miss Darrow? Will he be able to resurrect my lost crew members as well?"

Peri stopped, and turned to glare at Englehorn, "What's going on here, we have no idea what consequences it could have, and we have no idea of how to stop it. Trust us, like you did when the Doctor showed you the TARDIS."

Englehorn looked at her for a moment, then nodded once.

"Come on then," Peri said, and turned to follow the tunnel.

"There are more things in heaven than Earth," Englehorn muttered, and followed her.

* * *

Ann ran through the trees, stumbling over tangled roots, branches whipping into her face. Breathing heavily in the humidity of the jungle, she staggered to a halt by a stream trickling down a small cliff. She shoved her hands into the flow, wiping the cool water onto her face.

She had worked out that, if she reached the coast of Skull Island and followed it in one direction, she'd eventually get back to the _Venture_. So that was what she was doing, despite not knowing how big the island was, or whether the _Venture_ had waited for her. She had nothing better to do.

Refreshed, Ann hurried back into the forest. Then she stopped. She could here a high-pitched whistling noise, just on the edge of her hearing, and coming closer.

Ann began to run, away from the source of the noise, but it continued growing, getting steadily louder and louder until whatever it was would be right on top of her. The trees broke into a clearing – and then everything turned black.

The Xylok shuttle slowed to a hover, then retracted its teleport device, and turned to head back to the control tower.

* * *

The Doctor paused.

"What is it?" Hayes asked, raising his gun.

"Can you hear that?" the Doctor asked.

"Hear what?" Lumpy grunted, coughing.

Then they heard the whistling noise. Coming closer. It was the same as the noise they'd heard before, the noise of the ship that had abducted Jimmy and Peri. The noise rose, its source passing directly over their heads, towards the central mountain.

Hayes bolted, charging into the trees after the ship, grim determination etched into his face.

"Hayes!" the Doctor yelled, starting after him.

Not wanting to be left behind, the other sailors began to follow them, crashing through the undergrowth as if they were being chased again.

Hayes ran, ignoring the Doctor's calls to slow down. He had to find Jimmy, regardless of anything else. He had to get the boy to safety, to assuage the guilt within him. He kept running, worry and fear sending the adrenaline flooding into his system. He could hear the crashing behind him, the Doctor calling for him to slow down, Lumpy coughing, the swearing of the other sailors, but he ignored them. He had to find Jimmy.

Then the trees thinned, and Hayes almost crashed straight into a cliff.

He skidded to a halt, staring at the cliff above him. It was sheer, with very little in the way of hand and foot holds, stretching up to a large ledge. At the back of this ledge was another sheer cliff, rising up much further than the one below it. And they could just see, nestled on the ledge, the ship that had abducted Jimmy.

As sailors crashed out of the undergrowth behind him, Hayes ran to the cliff face, preparing to hook his hands into the crevices and climb, when he was grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground.

"You really should think before you run off like that," the Doctor said, as if telling off a small child, "You could have got lost, and who was it who instilled the value of 'safety in numbers' in us earlier?"

"I might have…" Hayes growled.

"Oh, come on," Lumpy said, "He's lost it!"

The Doctor shot him an angry glare, then spoke to Hayes, "What have I said before? We are going to find Jimmy, we are going to find Ann, and we're going to stop whatever is going on here. However, there is no need to move recklessly. If you do that, you'll only get into more trouble."

"Get off me…" Hayes snarled.

"Oh dear," the Doctor sighed.

* * *

Inside the control tower, Jimmy was lounging in a chair in a private chamber. Of course, it was Jimmy's body that was doing the lounging, but it was not under the control of Jimmy's mind. Rather, it was an ancient creature recently removed from cryogenic stasis.

The creature had a mate, or soon-to-be Queen, whose host had survived much longer than the young body of his current host. She was a master-planner in her own right, but he was the more formidable, the more feared. And now he was making plans.

His mate's host stood at a control panel, built by their slaves – the Xyloks – and watching an image of the Doctor standing on Hayes' chest.

"I have… memories," he said, "of the man on the ground. My host considers him a father, despite having no genetic connection. A father to replace the one who abused him."

"I will never understand humanoids," his mate remarked, examining the image.

Jimmy smiled. "It does not matter. This host has the gene we require, and we can use him as leverage over the Doctor. And I like his body."

"I can see why," she said, eyeing Jimmy's muscular torso.

"Has the human woman been taken to the lab?" he said, changing the subject.

"She has," his mate confirmed.

"Then let us lay our trap," he said, stood, and swept out of the chamber.

* * *

"Listen to reason, Hayes…" the Doctor said, "We need to stay together to find them…"

"_Get off me!_" Hayes roared, leaping to his feet, sending the Doctor sprawling. He charged at the cliff leading to the ledge where the shuttle had landed, and began climbing with renewed vigour.

Slowly, he moved out of their sight, climbing over the lip of the ledge, ignoring the Doctor's shouts.

"Well that's just fuckin' brilliant," Lumpy said.

Then Bruce Baxter stood up, "Look," he said, "Now he's gone, we gotta get back to the ship! Englehorn sails in nine hours!"

"Something is going on here," the Doctor said, "that is bigger than us. Something threatens all of space and time…"

"Hey, did you here me?" Bruce shouted, "We're gonna be stranded here! Miss Darrow was a great gal, no question. She was a wonderful person, it's a terrible loss, and we're all gonna miss her."

"What about Jimmy?" Jack said. The writer had been silent for most of their journey, focused on finding the woman he loved.

Bruce shrugged, "Just a screwed-up kid, another casualty."

"I always knew you were never the tough guy you played on screen," Jack spat. "I just never figured you for a coward."

"Hey, pal," Bruce snapped, "Wake up! Heroes don't look like me, not in the real world – in the real world they've got bad teeth, a bald spot and a beer gut. Be seeing ya."

Then he stalked off into the undergrowth.

"Anyone else?" Jack demanded.

Nobody moved.

"We all want to find Miss Darrow," Choy piped up, to murmurs of agreement.

Jack nodded, then turned to the Doctor, "What do you suggest we do?"

"Mad though it seems," the Doctor said, gazing up at the ledge in the cliff, "Hayes had a very good idea. The shuttle was probably heading for the control tower, which is where the prison cells, tracking and transmat systems are located."

"So we follow him?" Lumpy said.

"Yes."

"Well that's just fine and dandy."

As the sailors began to prepare for the climb, Jack came towards the Doctor, and spoke, "A word, please."

* * *

In the lab, Jimmy stood over Ann's unconscious body. In his hands, he held advanced surgical instruments, which were now splattered with blood. He hadn't put on a surgical gown, allowing the blood to spray across his bare chest, letting its coppery scent play across his nostrils. It brought back old memories of his conquests, of fighting on the front lines of interplanetary wars, of slaughtering enemy soldiers, of smelling their blood.

When he was done, he laid down the instruments and left the lab. Xylok slaves moved in to repair the damage Jimmy had done, then pump her with drugs to erase her recent memories before they placed her where the humans would find her.

He stood in the corridor, eyes closed, letting the memories of the blood play through his memory. He felt a mild tug of his host's mind screaming inside his head, but quelled it, and the screams of horror became screams of agony.

Then his mate arrived.

"We have intruders," she said.

* * *

Peri crept along the corridors, with Englehorn behind her.

"What are we going to do?" the German captain whispered, looking lost and out of his depth.

"This is obviously the alien's base," she whispered, "so they'll have tracking systems that'll let us find the Doctor, or maybe get your ship out of this cavern it's in."

"Aliens? Like immigrants?"

"No, space aliens."

"Space?"

Peri sighed. "You know the Earth's a planet orbiting a sun, well, all the stars are suns. Lots have worlds like this one, with intelligent inhabitants. Some have developed technology to pass between worlds and have gone empire-building."

"Like the British?"

"Yeah."

"And they want to conquer this world?"

"Maybe – there could be lots of reasons why they're here. They're a bit like humans in that respect."

"So we're just going?"

Peri sighed. "If it helps, think of it as a strategic withdrawl."

"And the Doctor has experience with this?" Englehorn asked.

"Yes," Peri sighed, "Look, could we have the questions later? I'm trying to think of a way to get out of here!"

Then a loud sound, rang out, an alarm of some sort, and Peri swore.

* * *

"Yes?" the Doctor asked when Jack had taken him aside.

"Do you actually want to rescue Ann and Jimmy?"

"Of course," the Doctor frowned, not sure what Jack was on about.

"Not just because Jimmy turned that old machine on? Because what with you going on about 'something bigger', it suggests you're here because you want to find out what's happening with the creatures, not to rescue Ann."

"You're mistaken," the Doctor said.

"Am I? All you seem to have done since we arrived is talk about how this place is scientifically impossible, about something big going on, something that could destroy the world or something."

" 'Destroy the world' is something of an understatement," the Doctor said.

Jack glared at him, as if his point had been proved. "You're like Denham," he said, "Only not as insane. Which is even more frightening."

"You've got it all wrong," the Doctor said levelly, "Our goals are the same. A malevolent force is working here, and it has Jimmy, no doubt using him for its own purposes. Ann, well, she…" he trailed off, realising that she was completely unconnected to what was occurring. There was no evidence that her abduction was connected to the nexus point.

"…is nothing to you?" Jack said, "Just an excuse to come out here and look at this new discovery. Then Jimmy was abducted, and you let Hayes run off to probably get killed." He shook his head. "And the worst thing is you seem to have a better idea than anyone of what to do. So we have no choice but to trust you."

"We will find Ann," the Doctor said, "and we'll find Jimmy. And we'll find Peri."

"Keep telling yourself that," Jack said, walking back to the main group without another word.

(_AUTHOR'S NOTE_) Review please – I need something to help me get through this bloody cold, and drag myself up to write the next chapter. _(END NOTE)_


End file.
